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Riley: Chloe is on tv!!
James: on which channel?
James: never mind i've found it
James: what is she doing? i don't get it
Riley: this is a programme in which women undergo a complete metamorphosis.
Riley: OMG she looks drop dead gorgeous! |
we consider lattice gas diffusive dynamics with creation - annihilation in the bulk and maintained out of equilibrium by two reservoirs at the boundaries .
this stochastic particle system can be viewed as a toy model for granular gases where the energy is injected at the boundary and dissipated in the bulk .
the large deviation functional for the particle currents flowing through the system is computed and some physical consequences are discussed : the mechanism for local current fluctuations , dynamical phase transitions , the fluctuation - relation . |
Washington (CNN)Supreme Court justices appeared divided Tuesday during historic arguments over the constitutionality of gay marriage, with Justice Anthony Kennedy returning to a familiar role as the court's pivotal vote. Chief Justice John Roberts -- who shocked conservatives with his swing vote to uphold Obamacare -- this time seemed to lean more closely to conservative justices. The arguments unfurled inside a packed courtroom on Tuesday while supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage rallied outside -- with one protester even interrupting the arguments from within. RELATED: How a Cincinnati judge could shape the gay marriage case . Many questions on Tuesday centered around the definition of marriage and whether the decision to authorize or ban gay marriage should be left to voters in individual states or decided by the judicial system. All eyes were on Justice Anthony Kennedy, considered a key vote for challengers to the state bans, who has penned three decisions in favor of gay rights over the years. At the start of arguments he joined other conservatives concerned with the fact that marriage has been defined between a man and a woman for a long time. "This definition has been with us for millennia," he said. "And it's very difficult for the court to say: 'Oh, well, we know better.' " But later Kennedy pressed John Bursch, a lawyer defending the bans: "Same sex couples say: 'Of course, we understand the nobility and the sacredness of the marriage. We know we can't procreate, but we want the other attributes of it in order to show that we, too, have a dignity that can be fulfilled.' " Kennedy also said that Bursch's assertion "that only opposite-sex couples can have a bonding with the child" was "just a wrong premise." When Bursch said the rate of out-of-wedlock birth has gone up in the country, Kennedy noted that if Bursch were to prevail, it might be difficult for same-sex couples to "adopt some of these children." "I think," Kennedy said, "the argument cuts quite against you." He also brought up the fact that marriage "bestows dignity." "These parties say they want to have that same ennoblement," he said. Chief Justice John Roberts was also concerned with the traditional definition of marriage. He said this to Mary L. Bonauto, an attorney representing the challengers: "You're not seeking to join the institution, you're seeking to change what the institution is." He expressed concern about closing off the debate currently going on in the states. "I mean, closing of debate can close minds, and it will have a consequence on how this new institution is accepted." "People feel very differently about something if they have a chance to vote on it, than if it's imposed on them by the courts," he said. Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Samuel Alito were sharply critical in their questioning of Bonauto. Scalia said that the issue is not whether there should be same-sex marriage, "but who should decide the point." Alito brought up how long marriage has been considered between a man and a woman and cast doubt that such a definition was meant to demean same-sex couples. Justice Sonia Sotomayor and other liberals seemed supportive of the challengers. When Bursch said that the issue should not be decided by the courts, Sotomayor pushed back. "I suspect even with us giving gays rights to marry that there's some gay people who will choose not to. ... Just as there are some heterosexual couples who choose not to marry. So we're not taking anybody's liberty away." Steve Vladeck, a constitutional law professor at American University and CNN analyst, said Tuesday's session revealed few surprises to close observers of the court who expected Kennedy and Roberts would be the swing votes on this case. RELATED: John Roberts' big moment: Will he anger conservatives again? "We heard both of them in the arguments today showing support for both sides of the argument, showing skepticism for both sides of the argument," Vladeck said. "I think the headline here is it's about what we expected. It's going to be close, it's going to be divisive and it's going to come down to Kennedy and Roberts." Vladeck also cautioned against reading too much into the justices' questioning and comments during the oral arguments, which account for just a few hours in the multi-month process of deciding such an consequential case. The emotion of the case also flooded into the courtroom, as one protester seated inside began shouted and screaming in the middle of the arguments. "If you support gay marriage you will burn in hell," the protester shouted before police quickly detained the man and dragged him out of the courtroom while he continued to scream. RELATED: Meet the lawyers who will argue the gay marriage case . "Rather refreshing actually," conservative Justice Antonin Scalia quipped as the man was dragged out to laughter in the courtroom. Lawyers with the pro-gay marriage organization Lambda Legal, which represented two of the cases wrapped into the Supreme Court case "an awe-inspiring and singular moment in the march towards justice." "It was incredibly moving to gather in the Supreme Court chamber with their parents and all 30 plaintiffs in these historic cases. Mary and Doug were fantastic, making a compelling and to my mind irrefutable case on their behalf," Lambda Legal's Alphonse Gerhardstein said of the lawyers who argued in favor of same-sex marriage before the court on Tuesday. U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, who represented the Obama administration's views, also presented arguments in favor of same-sex marriage, focusing on equal protection under the 14th amendment and likening bans on same-sex marriage to handing second-class status to gay Americans. "I don't know why we would repeat history," he said. |
Stewart: Can you believe he even said that about the forests? Raking? Really?
Shari: Yes. I can believe that this is an ignorant man. He proves it daily. This just one more example!
Stewart: He just has no clue.
Shari: I mean, there are so many people dead and all he can think to do is criticize the forestry department? With a totally inappropriate suggestion? Puhleeze.
Stewart: I can't wait to vote for anyone else but him.
Shari: I know what you mean. Half my friends voted for him just to see what would happen! Well, guess what?
Stewart: Yeah, but we couldn't go another 4 years with a Democrat. The country would go broke!
Shari: Maybe, but at least we wouldn't be hated around the world and led by an ignorant piece of shit!
Stewart: You've got a point!
Shari: I'm not sure he will finish out his term, with all the legal problems, but he seems to be able to hold off the big stuff. Somehow.
Stewart: I know. How is that even possible?
Shari: I'm not sure. I mean, he's breaking amendments to the constitution here!
Stewart: Only on the fringe.
Shari: Maybe.
Stewart: We have to make the best of it now. Nothing we can do.
Shari: Except vote him out!
Stewart: Exactly. But that's not for a while.
Shari: Closer every day. If only there was a good candidate.
Stewart: From your mouth to the Dem National Committee's ears!
Shari: LOL!
Stewart: We should volunteer. Get out the voters or something.
Shari: Good idea.
Stewart: Let me see what's out there and I'll let you know.
Shari: Great! |
we investigate two recent parameterizations of the galactic magnetic field with respect to their impact on cosmic nuclei traversing the field .
we present a comprehensive study of the size of angular deflections , dispersion in the arrival probability distributions , multiplicity in the images of arrival on earth , variance in field transparency , and influence of the turbulent field components . to remain restricted to ballistic deflections , a cosmic nucleus with energy @xmath0 and charge @xmath1 should have a rigidity above @xmath2 ev .
in view of the differences resulting from the two field parameterizations as a measure of current knowledge in the galactic field , this rigidity threshold may have to be increased .
for a point source search with @xmath3 ev , field uncertainties increase the required signal events for discovery moderately for sources in the northern and southern regions , but substantially for sources near the galactic disk . astroparticle physics , magnetic fields , cosmic rays |
(CNN)What do we have for the contestant on "The Price Is Right"? A brand-new car! Whoops. That wasn't supposed to happen. On Thursday's edition of the popular game show, model Manuela Arbelaez accidentally revealed the correct answer to a guessing game for a new Hyundai Sonata. Host Drew Carey couldn't stop laughing. "Congratulations! Manuela just gave you a car!" he exulted. Arbelaez was mortified, attempting to hide behind the display. But everything turned out OK, she tweeted later. It's been a busy week for "The Price Is Right." On Wednesday, former host Bob Barker, 91, showed up to run his old show. |
Harvey: Update?
Michelle: Too soon, still researching.
Harvey: That is an update, Michelle.
Michelle: Fine.
Harvey: I can't wait all day.
Michelle: If you stop texting me, I could get on with it!
Harvey: Fair point.
Michelle: Besides, half of this stuff is black hat. I can't see most of it.
Harvey: Why not?
Michelle: It installs bugs on my computer.
Harvey: Oh, right.
Michelle: It's fine. I'm back on it.
Harvey: Thanks. |
theoretical studies of the fractional quantum hall effect ( fqhe ) in graphene have so far focused on the plausibility and stability of the previously known fqhe states for the interaction matrix elements appropriate for graphene .
we consider fqhe for su(4 ) symmetry , as appropriate for the situation when all four spin and valley landau bands are degenerate , and predict new fqhe states that have no analog in gaas .
these result from an essential interplay between the two - fold spin and valley degeneracies at fractions of the form @xmath0 , for @xmath1 .
conditions are outlined for the observation of these states and quantum phase transitions between them ; the structure of these states and their excitations is also described . |
(CNN)A fourth man has been indicted in connection with a plot to provide material support to terrorists and for some of the men to join ISIS, according to an indictment from Brooklyn Federal Court released Monday. Dilkhayot Kasimov was added to a superseding indictment in which three previously arrested men -- Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, Akhror Saidakhmetov, and Abror Habibov -- were charged with two counts of providing support to a foreign terrorist organization. Those three have pleaded not guilty. It is unclear if Kasimov has been arrested. The indictment and a criminal complaint filed last month say Juraboev and Saidakhmetov planned to join ISIS and had purchased airline tickets to Turkey. Saidakhmetov has also been charged with travel document fraud after telling authorities he intended to travel for entertainment purposes, according to the indictment. He and Habibov were charged with conspiracy to use a firearm to commit a crime. The names: Who has been recruited to ISIS from the West . Habibov is a 30-year-old Uzbekistani citizen, who police say "helped organize and finance" the operation. He was arrested in Jacksonville, Florida. Court documents say Habibov operates mall kiosks that sell kitchenware and repair mobile phones. He has locations in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Habibov was in the United States legally, but overstayed his visa, according to police. Saidakhmetov, 19, lives in Brooklyn with Juraboev, his roommate. They are permanent residents of the United States. Court documents say Saidakhmetov, a citizen of Kazakhstan, worked at Habibov's mall kiosks in three different states in the fall and winter of 2014. Saidakhmetov was arrested last month at John F. Kennedy International Airport while attempting to catch a flight to Turkey, authorities said. The Brooklyn travel agent who booked his ticket said Saidakhmetov came into the agency, wanting to buy a round-trip ticket to Istanbul. Saidakhmetov said he couldn't afford a direct flight, which would have cost $900, so the travel agent booked him a trip connecting in Kiev, Ukraine, for $571. Saidakhmetov purchased the tickets using a New York state ID, the travel agent said. Court documents say Saidakhmetov once posted some comments on video of ISIS executing Iraqi forces. "Allahu akbar (God is great). I was very happy after reading this, my eyes joyful so much victory." The criminal complaint says he told a confidential informant that he wanted to travel to Syria to wage jihad, "but that his mother had feared that he would do so and took his passport so that he could not travel." Saidakhmetov called his mother in February and asked for his passport, according to the criminal complaint. "When asked where he wanted to go, Saidakhmetov responded that, if a person has a chance to join Islamic State and does not go there, on judgment day he will be asked why, and that it is a sin to live in the land of infidels," the complaint says. "After Saidakhmetov continued to ask for his passport, his mother hung up the phone." Saidakhmetov told the informant he would try to get his passport back by telling his mom he was traveling to Uzbekistan to visit relatives. When the informant suggested it might be better to take a direct flight to Turkey, Saidakhmetov responded, "America is catching, they are very strict now. ... it is better to fool them by flying here and flying there." There were other recorded conversations. In one from November, Saidakhmetov told Juraboev that he wanted to join the U.S. military so he could share information with ISIS. At the very least, he said, "he could always open fire on American soldiers and kill as many of them as possible," according to the complaint. In another recorded conversation in January, Saidakhmetov told the informant that if he couldn't get travel documents to go to Syria, "I will just go and buy a machine gun, AK-47, go out and shoot all police." Later, according to the complaint, he said, "It is legal in America to carry a gun. We will go and purchase one handgun ... then go and shoot one police officer. Boom. ... Then, we will take his gun, bullets and bulletproof vest ... then, we will do the same with a couple of others. Then we will go to the FBI headquarters, kill the FBI people." Before his arrest at his Brooklyn home, Juraboev was scheduled to hop a flight to Turkey, the criminal complaint said. He worked at the Gyro King restaurant in Brooklyn and had asked for the weekend off so he could travel. Zak Kahn, owner of Gyro King, said Juraboev was quiet and not given to discussing politics. "I never heard him -- not even a single sentence -- (talk) about politics, about jihad, about army, about military or force. ... What happened to him? He seemed to be a very peaceful person." In August, court documents say, Juraboev was active on an Uzbek-language website that promoted ISIS. "Greetings! We too wanted to pledge our allegiance and commit ourselves while not present there," Juraboev, a citizen of Uzbekistan, is said to have posted. "I am in USA now but we don't have any arms. But is it possible to commit ourselves as dedicated martyrs anyway while here? What I'm saying is, to shoot Obama and then get shot ourselves, will it do? That will strike fear in the hearts of infidels." The post earned Juraboev a visit from federal agents several days later. Juraboev admitted that he'd posted the message and that he believed in the ISIS agenda. He also said "that he would harm Obama if he had the opportunity to do so, but currently does not have the means or an imminent plan to do so," the complaint says. CNN's Ed Payne, Catherine Shoichet, Ray Sanchez, Rob Freshe, Will Ripley, David Shortell, Julia Talanova, Jason Caroll and Yon Pomrenze contributed to this report. |
Martin: I won two cinema tickets!
Aggie: oh cool, how come?
Martin: online. on fb, the movie mag organized it
Aggie: so what did you do
Martin: just write a short review and that's it
Aggie: well done :) so what and when. and where?
Martin: the new film with Redford
Aggie: i guess i heard sth
Martin: it's pretty cool i heard. till the end of the week
Aggie: sounds good. we'll find time XD |
we introduce a model of a dual - core optical waveguide with opposite signs of the group - velocity - dispersion ( gvd ) in the two cores , and a phase - velocity mismatch between them . the coupler is embedded into an active host medium , which provides for the linear coupling of a gain - loss type between the two cores .
the same system can be derived , without phenomenological assumptions , by considering the three - wave propagation in a medium with the quadratic nonlinearity , provided that the depletion of the second - harmonic pump is negligible .
this linear system offers an optical realization of the charge - parity ( @xmath0 ) symmetry , while the addition of the intra - core cubic nonlinearity breaks the symmetry . by means of direct simulations and analytical approximations
, it is demonstrated that the linear system generates expanding gaussian states , while the nonlinear one gives rise to broad oscillating solitons , as well as a general family of stable stationary gap solitons . |
Rome (CNN)Muslims who were among migrants trying to get from Libya to Italy in a boat this week threw 12 fellow passengers overboard -- killing them -- because the 12 were Christians, Italian police said Thursday. Italian authorities have arrested 15 people on suspicion of murdering the Christians at sea, police in Palermo, Sicily, said. Why migrants are dying to get to Italy . The original group of 105 people left Libya on Tuesday in a rubber boat. Sometime during the trip north across the Mediterranean Sea, the alleged assailants -- Muslims from the Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal -- threw the 12 overboard, police said. Other people on the voyage told police that they themselves were spared "because they strongly opposed the drowning attempt and formed a human chain," Palermo police said. The boat was intercepted by an Italian navy vessel, which transferred the passengers to a Panamanian-flagged ship. That ship docked in Palermo on Wednesday, after which the arrests were made, police said. 'I enter Europe or I die': Desperate migrants rescued this week off Italy . The 12 who died were from Nigeria and Ghana, police said. Thousands of people each year make the dangerous sea journey from North Africa to Europe's Mediterranean coast, often aboard vessels poorly equipped for the trip. Many of them attempt the voyage to flee war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. More than 10,000 people have arrived on Italian shores from Libya since last weekend alone, according to the Italian coast guard. Many die each year while attempting the voyage, often when boats capsized. Last year at least 3,200 died trying to make the trip. Since 2000, according to the International Organization for Migration, almost 22,000 people have died fleeing across the Mediterranean. The IOM reported Thursday the latest boat to sink in trying to make the journey. Only four people survived from the original 45 on board, bringing the estimated death toll so far this year close to a thousand. CNN's Hada Messia reported from Rome, and CNN's Livia Borghese reported from Augusta, Sicily. CNN's Jason Hanna wrote in Atlanta. CNN's Ben Wedeman contributed to this report. |
Catherine: We're going to visit uncle Steve, want to come with us?
Ben: why would I?
Catherine: He's family and we haven't seen him in a long time.
Ben: you know very well that I'm not fond of such visits
Ben: they stress me out
Catherine: Come on, even you can do it from time to time.
Ben: maybe I can but I don't want to
Ben: it will end the same way as usual
Ben: with me being pissed at everyone
Catherine: The boys want to see you
Ben: I can visit you and play with them some other day
Ben: I don't have to drive to another city to do it
Catherine: You know that he'll be disappointed?
Ben: uncle Steve?
Catherine: Yes.
Ben: I don't think so, we don't have anything in common
Ben: all he ever does is bothering me with stupid questions about my private life
Catherine: Maybe that's his way of showing that he cares about you
Ben: yes... sure... sometimes I wonder if you're thinking about what you type :P
Catherine: Depends on the day
Catherine: Today I'm tired so I can't guarantee it
Ben: you should rest then
Ben: instead of asking me to do stuff I don't like
Catherine: Alright, don't worry, I'll stop
Catherine: But still the part about the boys missing you was true
Catherine: So come and visit them when you'll have the chance
Ben: I will |
we study the statics and dynamics of a stable , mobile , three - dimensional matter - wave spherical quantum ball created in the presence of an attractive two - body and a _ very small _ repulsive three - body interaction .
the quantum ball can propagate with a constant velocity in any direction in free space and its stability under a small perturbation is established numerically and variationally . in frontal head - on and angular collisions at large velocities two quantum balls behave like quantum solitons .
such collision is found to be quasi elastic and the quantum balls emerge after collision without any change of direction of motion and velocity and with practically no deformation in shape . when reflected by a hard impenetrable plane , the quantum ball bounces off like a wave obeying the law of reflection without any change of shape or speed .
however , in a collision at small velocities two quantum balls coalesce to form a larger ball which we call a quantum - ball breather .
we point out the similarity and difference between the collision of two quantum and classical balls .
the present study is based on an analytic variational approximation and a full numerical solution of the mean - field gross - pitaevskii equation using the parameters of @xmath0li atoms . |
(The Hollywood Reporter)It may be time to light the lights. ABC is filming a proof of concept for a revival of "The Muppets," The Hollywood Reporter has learned. "The Big Bang Theory" co-creator Bill Prady is co-writing the script for a pilot presentation that sources say could be unspooled at May's upfront presentation to Madison Avenue advertisers. Sources tell THR that the project, if all goes well, could go straight to series. Bob Kushell ("Anger Management," "3rd Rock From the Sun") will also co-write and is attached to serve as showrunner, with Wilfred's Randall Einhorn attached to exec produce and direct the presentation. ABC's "Muppets" revival is being produced by ABC Studios and The Muppet Studios, which Disney owns. The presentation is set to film next weekend on the Disney lot in Burbank with some of the original Muppet performers returning. Sources say the concept for the presentation includes the regular cast of characters created by Jim Henson β Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and Animal, among others β gathering at ABC Studios for a meeting about the new "Muppet Show." However, the show won't move forward unless Miss Piggy signs on, and her current relationship with frequent love Kermit is on the rocks, preventing the show from getting off the ground. Early plans call for two celebrity cameos β including Miss Piggy's current co-star β as well as new roles including Fozzie's girlfriend and her parents. For Prady, the revived "Muppets" β which landed at ABC after initial interest from Netflix β marks a return to his roots. The producer, who currently does not have an overall deal, started his career working for Henson in 1982 and ultimately started writing for "The Jim Henson Hour," remaining on the series until a year after Henson's death in 1990. This marks the second time Prady has attempted to revive "The Muppets." The writer-producer shot some test footage before CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" that Disney ultimately passed on. For his part, Prady earned an Emmy nomination in 1991 for writing tribute "The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson" in 1990 and has contributed writing to Disney's Muppet-themed attractions. Should ABC order "Muppets" to series, Prady would juggle both that project and CBS' "The Big Bang Theory," which he exec produces. Created in 1955 by Henson, the original Muppet characters appeared on "Sam and Friends" from 1955-61 before going on to appear on late-night talk shows and commercials and becoming a regular part of "Sesame Street" in 1969. "The Muppet Show" launched on its own as a comedy-variety series and ran from 1976-81, with Kermit serving as the de-facto showrunner on the syndicated series that was produced out of the U.K. The franchise has spawned multiple movies (1979's "The Muppet Movie," 1981's "The Great Muppet Caper," 1984's "The Muppets Take Manhattan") as well as NBC's 1989 series "The Jim Henson Hour." Following Henson's death, the franchise continued with "Muppets Tonight" airing on ABC in 1996 with reruns airing on sibling Disney Channel from 1997-2000. That was the last television series to feature the Muppets characters. On the feature side, the franchise featured 1992's "The Muppet Christmas Carol," 1996's "Muppet Treasure Island" and 1999's "Muppets From Space," the latter two of which were co-produced by Disney, who acquired rights to the Muppets in 2004 and formed The Muppets Studio. The company rebranded the franchise in 2008 with Jason Segel's "The Muppets," with an eighth feature in the franchise, "Muppets Most Wanted" bowing in 2014. For ABC, the Muppets revival comes as variety shows are in the midst of a resurgence on the broadcast networks. NBC has made the format a priority, unspooling Marlon Wayans-hosted celebrity variety series "I Can Do That!" in the summer and has Neil Patrick Harris entry "Saturday Night Takeaway" in the works. The decision to revive "The Muppets" also comes as remakes and reboots are having their moment in the sun on the small-screen, as broadcast networks look to fan bases for existing franchises to help cut through the clutter and draw eyeballs in an increasingly crowded scripted space. On the comedy side, "The Muppets" arrives as it has become increasingly challenging to launch original scripted half-hours. Prady is repped by Rothman Brecher and Lichter Grossman; Kushell is with ICM Partners; Einhorn is with WME, Odenkirk Provissiero and Bloom Hergott. Β©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved. |
Abby: Have you talked to Miro?
Dylan: No, not really, I've never had an opportunity
Brandon: me neither, but he seems a nice guy
Brenda: you met him yesterday at the party?
Abby: yes, he's so interesting
Abby: told me the story of his father coming from Albania to the US in the early 1990s
Dylan: really, I had no idea he is Albanian
Abby: he is, he speaks only Albanian with his parents
Dylan: fascinating, where does he come from in Albania?
Abby: from the seacoast
Abby: Duress I believe, he told me they are not from Tirana
Dylan: what else did he tell you?
Abby: That they left kind of illegally
Abby: it was a big mess and extreme poverty everywhere
Abby: then suddenly the border was open and they just left
Abby: people were boarding available ships, whatever, just to get out of there
Abby: he showed me some pictures, like <file_photo>
Dylan: insane
Abby: yes, and his father was among the people
Dylan: scary but interesting
Abby: very! |
the availability of new data sources on human mobility is opening new avenues for investigating the interplay of social networks , human mobility and dynamical processes such as epidemic spreading . here
we analyze data on the time - resolved face - to - face proximity of individuals in large - scale real - world scenarios .
we compare two settings with very different properties , a scientific conference and a long - running museum exhibition .
we track the behavioral networks of face - to - face proximity , and characterize them from both a static and a dynamic point of view , exposing differences and similarities .
we use our data to investigate the dynamics of a susceptible - infected model for epidemic spreading that unfolds on the dynamical networks of human proximity .
the spreading patterns are markedly different for the conference and the museum case , and they are strongly impacted by the causal structure of the network data . a deeper study of the spreading paths shows that the mere knowledge of static aggregated networks would lead to erroneous conclusions about the transmission paths on the dynamical networks . |
Washington (CNN)Chief Justice John Roberts is back in the spotlight. Roberts -- who shocked conservatives nearly three years ago by providing a pivotal vote to uphold Obamacare -- once again faces a judicial crossroads in a historic case. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case that could decide whether gay and lesbian couples nationwide have the constitutional right to marry. The question at the core of Obergefell v. Hodges is one of the most consequential debates of the early 21st century, and one that is already helping to shape the 2016 presidential race. Appeals courts nationwide have moved decisively toward supporting same-sex marriage, but a split at the appellate level helped propel the issue to the nation's highest court, led by Roberts. Appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush, Roberts has a solid conservative record and would seem an unlikely vote to support a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. He dissented in United States v. Windsor, a landmark case in which a narrowly divided court struck down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal benefits to lawfully married same-sex couples. And he's expressed sympathy with legal arguments that would allow same-sex marriage bans. Yet both sides see the case as a legacy-making moment for the 60-year-old chief justice, and advocates for same-sex couples hold out hope that he will emerge as their ally. They will be scrutinizing his words and actions Tuesday for clues about how he'll vote -- and whether he will upset some conservatives once again. "If the Windsor majority votes in favor of marriage equality, the ruling will be one of the most momentous decisions of the Roberts court," said Judith E. Schaeffer of the Constitutional Accountability Center, which is advocating for same-sex marriage. "Will John Roberts want to be remembered as having dissented from such a historic decision?" For some conservatives, a vote in favor of same-sex marriage in the case would be a huge disappointment. It would be akin to the type of betrayal they felt when Justice David Souter, who was nominated to the bench by George H.W. Bush and who retired in 2009, consistently voted with the liberals or when Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Ronald Reagan appointee, disappointed them on earlier gay rights cases as well as abortion and the death penalty. Or when Roberts infuriated conservative allies by providing the crucial fifth vote to uphold Obamacare on the grounds that the law is a constitutional use of the government's taxing authority. The hope in conservative circles is that Roberts will see his legacy as ensuring that the issue of same-sex marriage gets decided by the people, not the courts. "The chief surely knows that his job is to be on the right side of the Constitution," said Edward Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. "Blatherings about the 'wrong side of history' are an appeal to intellectual cowardice." Those hoping that he will vote to uphold the state bans see a strong signal in the Windsor case. In his majority opinion, Kennedy said the "principal purpose" of the Defense of Marriage Act was to "impose inequality." Roberts disagreed. He wrote separately to say he thought Congress acted constitutionally when it passed the law in 1996 in an attempt to provide "uniformity and stability" at a time when every state defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Roberts picked up on Kennedy's language that emphasized the states' power to define the marital relationship and said that power will someday "come into play on the other side of the board in future cases about the constitutionality of state marriage definitions." David Cruz of the University of Southern California Gould School of Law said that Roberts could use that reasoning to vote in favor of state bans in the Obergefell case. "Roberts is suggesting that concerns about the powers of states will support state laws excluding same-sex couples from marriage," Cruz said. Indeed, the lower court that upheld the marriage bans in Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky in the Obergefell case relied heavily on the argument that states have a right to define marriage. Another clue to Roberts' thinking in the Windsor dissent is that he took particular issue with any notion that the Defense of Marriage Act was passed out of a desire to harm -- noting it had the support of majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as President Bill Clinton, who signed it into law. "I would not tar the political branches with the brush of bigotry," Roberts wrote. The comments suggest he would reject an argument in the Obergefell case that rested on the idea that same-sex marriage bans reflected animus against gay people. But backers of same-sex marriage are reading some tea leaves of their own. Schaeffer points out that Roberts didn't join the parts of the dissents penned by Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, which clearly stated a belief that state bans on same-sex marriage don't violate the Constitution. "Roberts didn't join them in expressing those views," Schaeffer said. At the time, Roberts simply wrote that the court "does not have before it, and the logic of its opinion does not decide" whether states can ban same-sex marriage. Schaeffer said the chief justice could have simply chosen to remain silent on an issue that wasn't before the court. "But I think one reasonable explanation is that Roberts was preserving a clean slate for himself on the ultimate issue of marriage equality," she said. The Defense of Marriage Act decision overshadowed another 2013 case -- Hollingsworth v. Perry -- that could have determined whether states could ban same-sex marriage. The case concerned a challenge to California's Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment that barred same-sex couples from marriage. But Roberts, writing for the majority, dismissed the case, holding that the challengers did not have the legal standing to bring it to the court. The ruling left in place a lower court decision that had invalidated Proposition 8 and thus paved the way for same-sex marriage in California. Roberts' lesbian cousin, who lives in California, sat in the courtroom during arguments in the Prop 8 case. Few people predicted that the issue would return so quickly to the Supreme Court, but waves of lower court judges -- sometimes citing Windsor -- struck down the state bans. On the first day of the term last fall, the court was presented with seven different petitions on the issue. Conventional wisdom was that the justices would garner the four necessary votes and grant one of the cases. But conventional wisdom was completely wrong. Without comment, the court declined to take up any of the cases, clearing the way for thousands of additional same-sex marriages. The court's vote count in such decisions is kept a secret and may never be known. But some speculate on one possible scenario: Roberts chose not to provide the fourth vote to the conservatives who dissented in Windsor. Then again, even if the speculation were true, it doesn't reveal much about Roberts' thinking. There's a big difference between voting not to take up a case, which expresses no opinions on the merits, and issuing an opinion on the merits. And even when Roberts' actions -- such as effectively allowing same-sex marriage to proceed in California -- seem to suggest a willingness to consider such unions nationwide, his comments along the way make it much harder to gain insight into his ultimate thinking. "When the institution of marriage developed historically, people didn't get around and say, 'Let's have this institution, but let's keep out homosexuals,' " Roberts said during the Proposition 8 oral arguments. "The institution developed to serve purposes that, by their nature, didn't include homosexual couples." |
Marty: Hiya, I have a favour to ask... can you pick up Marcel from school?
Christine: Sure, you ok?
Marty: Not really, I think I have sprained my ankle...
Christine: Oh no, have you seen see a doctor?
Marty: I was gonna see how it went today and might go tomorrow...
Christine: Are you sure? I'm happy to take you now if you want?
Marty: Nah, it can wait, that'll leave us in trouble with the kids...
Christine: OK, I'll pick up Marcel then.
Christine: Do you need anything from the shops or something?
Marty: No we are good thanks. we'll have pizza night, Marcel can sort us out...
Christine: I'm on a late shift tomorrow, shall I take Marcel in tomorrow morning? I'll take you to the doctor afterwards if you want?
Marty: That would be awesome, thank you for your help...
Christine: No problem, you'll have to call the school though.
Marty: Good one, will do that now...
Christine: See you around 4.
Marty: Thank you so much! |
we compare classical versus quantum electron transport in recently investigated magnetic focusing devices [ s. bhandari et al .
, nano lett . 16 , 1690 ( 2016 ) ] exposed to the perturbing potential of a scanning gate microscope ( sgm ) .
using the landauer - bttiker formalism for a multi - terminal device , we calculate resistance maps that are obtained as the sgm tip is scanned over the sample
. there are three unique regimes in which the scanning tip can operate ( focusing , repelling , and mixed regime ) which are investigated .
tip interacts mostly with electrons with cyclotron trajectories passing directly underneath it , leaving a trail of modified current density behind it .
other ( indirect ) trajectories become relevant when the tip is placed near the edges of the sample , and current is scattered between the tip and the edge .
we also discuss possible explanations for spatial asymmetry of experimentally measured resistance maps , and connect it with specific configurations of the measuring probes . |
(CNN)What would you do if a complete stranger asked you for $100, or offered you an apple in a parking lot without explanation? These are only two of the 100 challenges Chinese-born, American-based Jia Jiang put himself up to when he decided to blog about "100 Days of Rejection", a project he launched after he quit his comfortable six-figure job to follow his dreams of being an entrepreneur at the age of 30, just weeks before his first child was born. After his tech start-up was declined investment, Jiang decided to confront his fear of rejection head-on. This led to his writing his book called Rejection Proof, part self-help and part motivational/autobiography, which is being released this week. Famously, in 2012 on his third day of the project, Jiang asked Austin, Texas, Krispy Kreme manager (Jackie Braun) to make him five interlinked donuts to mimic the Olympic symbol. To his surprise, she rose to the challenge and his rejection request faltered. He shared his video and it went viral on Reddit. Before long, Jiang (and Braun) were invited on talk shows and Jiang was being asked to speak at events across the US. Jiang was even offered jobs as his project continued and his fame grew. That wasn't the goal of the project though. "I'm really just a person trying to overcome my own fears," explained Jiang. The project started out to help "fix my own problems, and now I'm helping others fix theirs," he said. "The fear of rejection really holds people back. I'm trying to demystify the idea of rejection." Jiang, who as a child dreamed of being Bill Gates and has been viewed 7 million times on YouTube, has found his entrepreneurial dream in a different role for the moment. "My goal is to turn rejection into opportunity. I always thought it was something to run away from, but if we can embrace it, we can turn it into a lot more than an obstacle." 8 top tips in making rejection work for you: . 1 - The fear of rejection holds us back a lot more than actual rejection. By putting ourselves out there, the world will usually open itself up to you. Though the world can seem cruel and cold, actually humans have a hard time saying no. So open yourself up, don't be afraid to ask for something. If you fail, remember it's not about you. 2 - Rejection is more or less a numbers game. Sometimes the most far-fetched idea gets a yes. If you talk to enough people, somebody will say yes to you. J.K. Rowling went through 12 rejections to get her yes for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. 3 - You cannot use rejection to measure the merit of an idea. Sometimes if you really want to change the world, getting rejection is a must. Rejection is a human interaction with two sides. It often says more about the rejector than the rejectee, and should never be used as the universal truth and sole judgment of merit. 4 - Don't run away after a no. The most common thing we do when we're rejected is we want to run because rejection is painful - you're hurt, angry and you lose confidence. But actually if we know how to handle it, we can often minimize the chance of rejection. Be confident, engaging, collaborate. I used all of these traits to maximise getting a yes. 5 - Ask why? When you get rejected you have to find out why. Then spend time to find solutions to solve that why. Sometimes through this process you learn there is something else you can ask for. Ask for an intermediate position rather than the top position. 6 - Set a number of how many no's you can take. In his book, Jiang helps his wife set out to get her dream job at Google. He tells her that instead of thinking about getting a job, she needs to prepare herself for how many no's she can take. In the end, she was offered a job at Google. 7 - Be invincible. By the end of his project, Jiang said he felt he could ask anything from anyone and not have the pain of rejection. It was a gradual process - gradually my comfort zone expanded. It's like a muscle, I could become stronger and stronger. 8 - Stand tall and remember rejection is an opinion. People are who they are. A lot of people will reject you because of their mood, their education, their upbringing, and you can't change who they are. But you can stand confidently. Innate confidence comes across. How missing sleep can damage your IQ . The surprising benefits of doing nothing . 7 habits of highly ineffective people . |
Molly: listen I've got a free ticket to the Muse concert in Cracow, want to come with me?
Hannah: nah, I don't like them
Molly: what about you Anna
Anna: yassss please
Anna: let's go! <3 |
magneto - convection can produce an active region without an initial coherent flux tube .
a simulation was performed where uniform , untwisted , horizontal magnetic field of 1 kg strenght was advected into the bottom of a computational domain 48 mm wide by 20 mm deep .
the up and down convective motions produce a hierarchy of magnetic loops with a wide range of scales , with smaller loops riding piggy back " in a serpentine fashion on larger loops .
when a large loop approaches the surface it produces an small active region with a compact leading spot and more diffuse following spots . |
Bangkok (CNN)Thailand has lifted martial law, replacing it with it a controversial new security order granting sweeping powers to the ruling military junta. Critics have expressed alarm at the move, with Human Rights Watch's Asia director Brad Adams saying it marked the country's "deepening descent into dictatorship." Martial law was lifted Wednesday when the Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej approved a request from Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha to proceed. Prayuth -- head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) junta -- immediately invoked Article 44 of the country's interim constitution "to curb acts deemed harmful to national peace and stability." Article 44 states, in wide-ranging terms, that when the head of the junta believes it is necessary in the name of public harmony or to prevent the undermining of national security, then he has the power to act as deemed necessary. According to a statement issued by the NCPO, the new order grants military personnel powers to issue summons and arrest those who commit crimes against the royal family or against national stability, who commit crimes involving war weaponry, or who violate the orders of the NCPO. Designated military personnel were granted powers to seize assets, to block media from reporting or publishing, and to detain suspects up to seven days, the statement said. Unauthorized political gatherings of more than five people were banned, while those who defied NCPO orders could be imprisoned for up to a year, it said. Those who were detained could not leave the country without the approval of the head of the NCPO. Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the new security order would allow Prayuth "to issue orders without administrative, legislative, or judicial oversight or accountability." "Thailand's friends abroad should not be fooled by this obvious sleight of hand by the junta leader to replace martial law with a constitutional provision that effectively provides unlimited and unaccountable powers," Adams said in a statement. Sunai Phasuk, Human Rights Watch's senior researcher on Thailand, told CNN the move would see Prayuth "become a strongman with ultimate power in his hands to wield as he wishes." "This is a dangerous indication that the junta is not going to keep its promise to restore democracy and respect for human rights in Thailand," he said. Rupert Abbott, deputy director for Asia Pacific at Amnesty International, called in a statement for the NCPO to "reinstate the rule of law and constitutional protections for human rights which the 2014 coup steamrolled over." Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed alarm at the news. "Normally I would warmly welcome the lifting of martial law -- and indeed strongly advocated for it to be lifted in Thailand," the High Commissioner said. "But I am alarmed at the decision to replace martial law with something even more draconian, which bestows unlimited powers on the current Prime Minister without any judicial oversight at all. This clearly leaves the door wide open to serious violations of fundamental human rights." Martial law was imposed shortly before Thailand's military seized power last May, ousting the democratically-elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra after months of sometimes violent street protests. Since then, the NCPO has curbed civil liberties, muzzled the media and rounded up opponents. Amnesty International says that since May, hundreds of people have been arbitrarily held and dozens brought before military courts for engaging in peaceful political gatherings or expression. Thai political scholar and coup opponent Pavin Chachavalpongpun told CNN that the move from martial law to the new security order amounted to "pouring the same wine into a new bottle." "The junta is trying to reinvent itself, but the substance is still there," he said. "In a word: it's absurd. Everyone knows in Thailand they had to abolish the martial law because of international pressure. "But Article 44 is a lot worse than the martial law because it gives total power to the NCPO." Thailand's military rulers have insisted that such restrictive measures are needed to maintain stability, following a decade of political conflict which has pitted a royalist, middle-class Bangkok elite against Shinawatra's supporters, mostly drawn from the urban working class or the rural north. But Pavin did not believe there was a sufficient threat to national security to justify the new order. "The notion of national security has been exploited over and over," he said. A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok said it was important that Thai citizens were allowed "to freely exercise their fundamental rights, including the rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly." |
Paul: Do you have your keys?
Lena: Yup. What's up?
Paul: I will be home later than I thought, so just don't wait for me and get home.
Lena: What happened?
Paul: I'll call you in 15 minutes and then I'll tell you.
Lena: Ok. |
we consider a real scalar field and a majorana fermion field to construct a supersymmetric quantum theory of free fermion fields based on the deformed heisenberg algebra @xmath0=i\hbar\big(1-\beta p+2\beta^{2}p^{2}\big)$ ] , where @xmath1 is a deformation parameter .
we present a deformed supersymmetric algebra in the presence of minimal length and maximal momentum . + * key words * : quantum gravity phenomenology , quantum field theory , supersymmetry |
Rome (CNN)The Italian navy has boarded and retaken control of a fishing boat that had been seized hours earlier by gunmen off the coast of Sicily, the Italian military said Friday. The boat, named Airone, was intercepted some 90 kilometers (56 miles) from the Libyan port of Misrata, according to a statement from the Italian Joint Forces. An Italian naval unit boarded the fishing boat and took custody of a Libyan soldier on the vessel, according to a statement by the Italian Navy. It said during the operation, rifle shots were accidentally fired, and one of the seven fisherman on board was slightly injured. The Airone, carrying three Sicilians and four Tunisians, had embarked from Mazara del Vallo in Sicily five days earlier to fish for shrimp. The Airone's captain said there were about 10 other ships in the area when it was seized, according to Vito Mazzarino, the boat's owner. "At a certain point a tug boat came up and flanked the fish boat and some Libyans came on board," Mazzarino said, quoting the captain, Alberto Figuccia. "They were armed. And at that point chaos erupted." Italy is a major gateway to Europe for migrants from North Africa. Thousands of people each year make the dangerous sea journey from North Africa to Europe's Mediterranean coast, to flee war and poverty. Italy registered more than 10,000 migrants in the first three months of 2015, according to the International Organization for migration. On Monday, gunmen on a speedboat fired shots in the air and sped away with a wooden boat that was being used to transport migrants, according to Frontex, the European Union's border management agency. That incident occurred 60 nautical miles from the Libyan coast. The 250 migrants on board had already been transferred on to a different boat, Frontex said on its website. "This is a sign that smugglers in Libya are running short of boats and are more willing to use weapons to recover those used to transport the migrants," said Fabrice Leggeri, Frontex's executive director, in a news release. Italian police: Muslim migrants threw Christians overboard . |
Jane: Hey
Martin: Whats up
Maria: Hey
Jane: Anyone going to Value Village?
Jane: I am getting halloween costumes with my sister
Jane: If anyone wants to join
Connor: I got mine today so thanks
Connor: At Value Village
Jane: I am going with u ok? priv msg
Jane: ok ok |
ngc5905 is one of the very few galaxies that underwent a giant x - ray outburst , with a change in photon countrate of a factor @xmath0100 .
the outburst spectrum is both , very soft and luminous ( bade , komossa & dahlem 1996 ) .
our high - resolution follow - up optical spectroscopy of ngc5905 does not reveal any signs of seyfert activity . at present , this makes ngc 5905 the _ only _ non - active galaxy among the x - ray outbursting ones .
we discuss several scenarios to account for the exceptional properties of ngc5905 , including a supernova in dense medium , an accretion - disk instability , an event of extreme gravitational lensing , and the x - ray afterglow of a grb to account for the x - ray outburst .
we find that the most likely model to explain the observations seems to be tidal disruption of a star by a central smbh , a scenario proposed by rees ( 1988 ) as a tracer of smbhs in nearby non - active galaxies .
the x - ray outburst in this hii galaxy then lends further support to the scenario that _ all _ galaxies passed through an active phase , leaving unfed smbhs in their centers . |
(CNN)All we want for Christmas is you, Mariah Carey! According to EW, New Line Cinema is planning a Mariah Carey Christmas movie. Producer Jonathan Shestack confirmed that he is working on the yet-untitled project with Carey's good friend director Brett Ratner co-producing. "It's a little bit about how music can take you back in time," Shestack told EW. "It will be everything you hope a Christmas movie with Mariah Carey would be." Here are five reasons this movie has to happen: . What is the Christmas season without a little Mariah? Duh! Her 1994 hit "All I Want For Christmas is You" is a classic, and admit it: You start listening to it well before the holiday season even begins. It's the jam! The '90s are so coming back . The Backstreet Boys have a documentary out, NBC is bringing the sitcom "Coach" back to television, JNCO jeans are being spotted, and there's talk of a new version of "Full House." Mariah was the queen of the 1990s, so it's only right that she get in on the revival. You can't forget about her . She already told you: "Don't Forget About Us." She's come a long way from "Glitter" Carey was ridiculed for the dismal 2001 film "Glitter," but she has more than since redeemed herself with small roles in the critically acclaimed Lee Daniels films "Precious" and "The Butler." The Diva still reigns . Lest we forget how much sparkle she can bring into our lives, check out this collection of Mariah Carey throwing shade. It really is everything. |
Adam: Did you take the dog for a walk?
Mike: No, I did not have time,
Adam: Ok, I'll take him with me. |
an accurate fitting formula is reported for the two - point correlation function @xmath0 of the dark matter halos in hierarchical clustering models .
it is valid for the linearly clustering regime , and its accuracy is about 10% in @xmath1 for the halos with mass @xmath2 where @xmath3 is the characteristic non - linear mass .
the result is found on the basis of a careful analysis for a large set of scale - free simulations with @xmath4 particles . the fitting formula has a weak explicit dependence on the index @xmath5 of the initial power spectrum , but can be equally well applied to the cold dark matter ( cdm ) cosmological models if the effective index @xmath6 of the cdm power spectrum at the scale of the halo mass replaces the index @xmath5 .
the formula agrees with the analytical formula of mo & white ( mw96 ) for massive halos with @xmath7 , but the mw96 formula significantly underpredicts @xmath0 for the less massive halos .
the difference between the fitting and the analytical formulae amounts to a factor @xmath8 in @xmath0 for @xmath9 .
one of the most interesting applications of this fitting formula would be the clustering of galaxies since the majority of halos hosting galaxies satisfies @xmath10 .
# 1*r*_#1 # 1*s*_#1 # 1|n(*r*_#1 ) # 1|n(*s*_#1 ) # 1_z(r_p#1,_#1 ) # 1(r_#1 ) # 1(s_#1 ) # 1w(r_p#1 ) |
(CNN)Just kill it already. That was the sentiment of many "Vampire Diaries" fans on Tuesday after star Nina Dobrev announced she will be leaving the CW show at the end of this season. "I always knew I wanted Elena's story to be a six season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime," she posted on her social media accounts after a "goodbye party" at Lake Lanier outside Atlanta, where the show is filmed. "I was a human, a vampire, a doppelganger, a crazy immortal, a doppelganger pretending to be human, a human pretending to be a doppelganger. I got kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, was dead and undead, and there's still so much more to come before the season finale in May." And while that may be true, fans were feeling a little jilted. Many chastised the show's producers, some even Dobrev herself, for allowing the show to go on to a seventh season this fall after she departs. Many were upset that Dobrev's departure could sink hopes of seeing a satisfying denouement to the relationship between Dobrev's character, Elena Gilbert, and love interest vampire Damon Salvatore. Fans called the couple "Delena." "I feel angry, sad, depressed, numb but most of all I feel like part of me died along with Nina leaving TVD. Nothing will be the same again," Twitter user iDamonAndElena posted. Producer Julie Plec issued a statement supporting Dobrev's decision. "Nina is excited to spread her wings, get some rest, travel the world and also take it by storm, and we support her a thousand-fold," she said in the statement, according to media accounts. "We will miss Nina and the four hundred characters she played, but we look forward to the insane and exciting challenge of continuing to tell stories of our Salvatore Brothers and our much-loved and gifted ensemble." No thanks, some fans said. Dobrev seemed to anticipate the pain, urging fans to hold on through the show's finale next month. "If you think you know what's coming, you don't," she said. |
Joanne: What are your plans for the holidays?
Evelyn: Nothing. Iβll stay at home and rest.
Joanne: You must be exhausted after the past few weeks
Evelyn: Itβs been hectic
Joanne: Iβm going back home.
Evelyn: To France?
Joanne: Yes. Not that I want to goβ¦
Evelyn: Why? You always liked spending Christmas with your family.
Joanne: I did. But my parents separated a few months ago
Joanne: It is still pretty tenseβ¦
Evelyn: Iβm sorry to hear that
Joanne: My dad left my mum for his secretary
Joanne: Such a clichΓ©
Joanne: My mum is devastated
Joanne: So Iβm basically going to cheer her up
Joanne: Itβs really hard for her now
Joanne: For me itβs also not easy
Evelyn: I can imagine!
Evelyn: If you want to bring your mum over here we could spend Christmas together.
Joanne: Thanks, thatβs really sweet. But I donβt think sheβs in a condition for that. Sheβs been very depressive lately. |
the closed causal chains arising from backward time travel do not lead to paradoxes if they are self consistent .
this raises the question as to how physics ensures that only self - consistent loops are possible .
we show that , for one particular case at least , the condition of self consistency is ensured by the interference of quantum mechanical amplitudes associated with the loop .
if this can be applied to all loops then we have a mechanism by which inconsistent loops eliminate themselves . |
Sao Paulo, Brazil (CNN)Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians are taking to the streets in protests across the country, lashing out against President Dilma Rousseff as she struggles with an economic downturn and a massive bribery scandal. The demonstrators have called for the President to be impeached. On the other side Rousseff's base is holding rallies in her support. There are a number of issues at play. One of the biggest: an investigation into a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme at the state-run oil company Petrobras. Petrobras was long considered the corporate jewel in Brazil's crown, one of the biggest companies in the world by market capitalization. But last year, investigators launched a sweeping investigation. According to suspects-turned-witnesses, construction companies paid bribes to executives at Petrobras as well as politicians to secure lucrative contracts. Most of the politicians accused in the investigation belong to the President's Workers Party and its allies. During many of the years that the alleged corruption took place, Rousseff was the chairwoman of Petrobras. There hasn't been any evidence she was involved with the scheme, and her supporters say the position is merely a figurehead. Rousseff has defended Brazilians' right to protest and acknowledged the need to clean up corruption at Petrobras -- but denied any prior knowledge of it. But Brazilians are still outraged. Rousseff won re-election with just over 50% of valid votes in October, but her approval rating plummeted to 13% after the protests last month. Compounding the frustration is the economy, which is expected to contract this year. Inflation is stubbornly high, and the currency has lost more than 20% of its value against the dollar this year alone. Both sides are. The country was already sharply divided during presidential elections in October. Roughly half of the voting population didn't vote for Rousseff, and many of those same people joined protests immediately after elections. Rousseff's supporters like to characterize the protesters as Brazilian elite and right-wingers, and some small groups do carry signs calling for a military intervention to oust the President. But with the Petrobras scandal growing and the economy sinking, the protests have gotten bigger and broader, with many demonstrators saying they initially voted for Rousseff. Protesters say Rousseff should be impeached for failing to halt the corruption at Petrobras. On the other hand, labor unions, social activists and groups such as the Landless Workers Movement who support the government have organized their own marches. The demonstrations are meant as a show of force for democracy, with participants saying the President was democratically elected and cannot be impeached. But participation has not been consistently strong. The President has said Petrobras should be cleaned up. Has she done anything about it? She says she's given prosecutors and the Federal Police free rein to investigate the Petrobas scandal. Some of her allies who have been implicated in the investigation think Rousseff should do more to protect them. This scandal has been known publicly for at least a year, and during Rousseff's election campaign, she said she would root out corruption. The Brazilian economy was booming for the good part of a decade, bolstered by voracious demand for its commodities from China. But with China's economy cooling, Brazil has failed to find a successful alternative to promote growth and shore up investor confidence. Now, with the President's approval rating abysmally low, it will be difficult to implement the savings needed to get the economy back on track. Rousseff has appointed a market-friendly economy minister, Joaquim Levy, to try and fix the country's fiscal problems. But in the current political crisis, he hasn't been able to make much progress. |
Rita: I'm so bloody tired. Falling asleep at work. :-(
Tina: I know what you mean.
Tina: I keep on nodding off at my keyboard hoping that the boss doesn't notice..
Rita: The time just keeps on dragging on and on and on....
Rita: I keep on looking at the clock and there's still 4 hours of this drudgery to go.
Tina: Times like these I really hate my work.
Rita: I'm really not cut out for this level of boredom.
Tina: Neither am I. |
we set up the general formalism to model polytropic newtonian stars with anisotropic pressure .
we obtain the corresponding lane - emden equation . a heuristic model based on an ansatz to obtain anisotropic matter solutions from known solutions for isotropic matter
is adopted to illustrate the effects of the pressure anisotropy on the structure of the star . in particular , we calculate the chandrasekhar mass for a white dwarf . it is clearly displayed how the chandrasekhar mass limit changes depending on the anisotropy . prospective astrophysical applications of the proposed approach are discussed . |
(CNN)On April 20, 2010, a final cement seal of an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico failed, causing what has been called the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history and taking the lives of 11 rig workers. For 87 straight days, oil and methane gas spewed from an uncapped wellhead, 1 mile below the surface of the ocean. The federal government estimated 4.2 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf, but BP argued in court that it was much lower. A judge ruled BP was responsible for the release of 3.1 million barrels. Imagining Daddy: A rig worker's daughter and her dreams . There were dire predictions of what would follow. Environmentalists and others braced for an environmental collapse on a massive scale. Scientists continue to study environmental impacts, but five years after the spill, the long-term negative effects remain unclear and are, in many cases, highly disputed. BP, the company that caused the spill, is eager to point out it appears the Gulf of Mexico is healing itself. BP's vice president of communications, Geoff Morrell, said there is no doubt birds, fish, turtles, sub-sea vegetation and even sediment species were all affected in the immediate aftermath of the spill. Email your story ideas and tips to [email protected]. "There's no question about that," Morrell said. "But they have also, according to the data, bounced back and are recovering strongly." "And there is no data that suggests there are any long-term population-level impacts to any species." While BP's assessment has not been disproven, the government suggests it's too soon to make long-term conclusions about the rebounding health of the Gulf. Shortly after BP released its own five-year report that concluded the Gulf has largely recovered, the trustees of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment called BP's report "inappropriate as well as premature." The trustees, a collection of government agencies tasked with determining the extent of the damage from the Macondo spill, released a statement, saying, "We know that the environmental effects of this spill are likely to last for generations." One government official familiar with the trustee's assessment accused BP of having "cherry-picked" positive results while ignoring others, something BP denies. Most long-term scientific studies on environmental disasters take longer than the five years that have passed. Studies so far have shown a variety of negative impacts on wildlife immediately after the spill, but others show some of those species are bouncing back. Fish landings in the Gulf, the amount of fish caught by the fishing industry, have returned. Oysters are also recovering in many areas. And according to the Food and Drug Administration, tests on edible seafood show no excess hydrocarbons in the region's food supply. The spill's effects on other species are less clear. Dolphins are dying at an accelerated rate along the Gulf Coast, and even more so in Louisiana where the oil hit the hardest. But the dolphin "mortality event," as the government calls it, began months before the spill. Studies suggest the diseases dolphins suffer from in places like Barataria Bay, Louisiana, could be caused by oil exposure, but direct links to the 2010 Macondo spill have not been proven. Seaside sparrows in the Gulf are also showing signs of strain, and some studies cite oil as contributing to reductions in their overall abundance. While aerial surveys taken in 2010 suggest tens of thousands of sea turtles were exposed to oil in coastal waters, government agencies are still gathering data and have not concluded if the spill will have long-term effects on sea turtle populations. But perhaps the greatest unknown is what, if anything, millions of gallons of oil on the deep seafloor are doing to the overall environment of the Gulf itself. Oceanographers have been tracking the residue from the Macondo well as it has settled on the bottom of the ocean. Mandy Joye, an oceanographer with the University of Georgia, has used underwater robots to capture soil samples and run tests to determine just how far the oil has traveled. Her research and other studies show BP's oil is scattered in patches across more than 1,200 square miles of the seafloor. According to Joye's study the oil residue exists in thin layers in some areas of the seafloor and thick pockets in others. Joye is trying to determine how the oil deposited on the seafloor -- estimated to be about 10 million gallons -- affects the microbial community of organisms that exists in the deepwater ocean. "That stuff's not going to stay put. It's going to move around, " Joye said. She said that right now, there is just no way to tell if it will have an impact. "There's so much that we don't know," Joye said. BP doesn't accept the results of Joye's work. The company said its oil is all accounted for and only exists in two places: within a 2 kilometer area around the wellhead and in tar mats and tar balls that have yet to be cleaned up on the beach. And according to BP's Morrell, the oil and residue that remains is no longer harmful. "So much time has passed that it no longer has any toxicity and is therefore not a threat to humans or aquatic life," Morrell said. Ocean conservationist Philippe Cousteau witnessed much of the spill's aftermath in 2010, but when he returned to the Gulf to dive near an oil rig last month, he was astonished by the abundance of amberjacks, hammerhead sharks and other marine life he saw. During the same trip, however, Cousteau spotted a mother dolphin trying to revive a dead calf. It is unknown if its death had anything to do with the oil. Cousteau commended the progress community groups and restoration projects have made since the spill, but he said he believes it's far too early to say the Gulf is back and the oil is gone. "It is still in many cases in the sand, along the shoreline, in the marshes," Cousteau said, "and existing on a microscopic scale that we may not be able to see with the naked eye." CNN's David Matthews contributed to this report. |
Adam: I have a juicy gossip for you guys ;)
Borys: About whom?
Adam: So apparently, Iga planned a weekend getaway with her boyfriend, but they had to cancel because he couldn't talk his group into changing the date of the presentation :D
Katia: And she is pissed?
Adam: What do you think? That is why they aren't sitting together since Monday ;)
Katia: Who would have expected such a gossip girl from you :D |
our knowledge of the initial conditions and early stages of high mass star formation is very limited . we will review recent surveys of regions in the early stages of massive star formation using molecular tracers of high density and dust continuum emission and consider the status of evolutionary schemes .
comparison to the situation for low mass , relatively isolated star formation will be used to illustrate the outstanding issues in massive star formation .
the problem of initial conditions is particularly acute because there is a lack of observational evidence for regions capable of forming massive stars _ before _
star formation actually begins . by analogy with the pre - protostellar cores ( ppcs )
studied for low - mass star formation , one might call such regions pre - proto - cluster cores ( ppclcs )
. we will conclude with some speculation about what such cores might look like and possibilities for their detection . |
(CNN)Feidin Santana, the man who recorded a South Carolina police officer fatally shooting a fleeing, unarmed man, told CNN on Thursday night he was told by another cop to stop using his phone to capture the incident. "One of the officers told me to stop, but it was because I (said) to them that what they did it was an abuse and I witnessed everything," he told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360Λ." Santana told Cooper an officer told him to wait where he was but eventually he left the scene to go to work. In other interviews, Santana has said he feared for his life, which almost kept him from revealing the recording. Santana recalled the moments when he recorded a roughly three-minute video of North Charleston Police officer Michael Slager shooting Walter Scott as Scott was running away Saturday. That evidence led to the officer's firing and arrest on a murder charge. Santana said when he first came on the scene while walking to his job he saw Slager on top of Scott, who was on the ground. He could hear the sound of a Taser in use. At no time did Santana see Scott go after the Taser. He believes Scott was trying to get away. "Mr. Scott never tried to fight," Santana told CNN. Police said Slager used a Taser against Scott, but Slager would also later tell a dispatcher that Scott at some point had grabbed the Taser. After Slager shot Scott five times, the officer went back to pick up something. Santana thinks it was the Taser but said he wasn't 100% sure what it was. Neither the struggle nor the use of a Taser was captured on video, because Santana had yet to begin recording. What we know about Officer Slager . The cell phone video, which Santana revealed this week, reignited national outcries surrounding police treatment of African-Americans and led to a murder charge against Slager, who is white. Scott was black. Police said Slager pulled the 50-year-old Scott over for a nonworking brake light on Saturday morning. Scott, according to a dash cam video, fled from Slager for unexplained reasons, and the officer chased him on foot. When Santana's video begins, Scott starts running away from the officer, with Scott's back to Slager. The video shows Slager shooting at Scott eight times before Scott falls down. Who was Walter Scott? Scott's mother, Judy Scott, told Cooper this week that she would want to thank Santana for coming forward. "He was there. God planned that. He's the ram in the bush -- I truly believe that," Judy Scott said. Santana agreed. "I think she was right," he said. "God put me there for a reason." Judy Scott said she couldn't watch the whole recording. "When I saw my son running and I saw the policeman behind him, I couldn't take it," she said. "I had to turn away. I couldn't handle it. In an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer, Santana suggested that he was giving media interviews in part to protect himself against retribution. "At some point I thought about staying anonymous, and don't show my face, don't talk about it. But ... if I wouldn't show my face, everybody over there knows, including the police, who I am," Santana said. Santana did not say whether he had received threats. His attorney, Todd Rutherford, said Santana's video would be useful in an investigation -- not only into the shooting but also into whether Scott received prompt medical attention. In the last half of the video, a second officer appears to examine Scott with gloved hands. Witness video, official accounts raise questions . Santana said after he stopped recording, he watched for a few more minutes but never saw anyone perform CPR. A police report says a third officer -- not shown in the video -- reported seeing an officer administering first aid, and that the third officer approached and helped that person "with first aid and CPR." On Wednesday, asked whether CPR was performed on Scott, North Charleston police Chief Eddie Driggers said: "In the end of it (the video), what I saw was (what I) believed to be a police officer removing the shirt of the individual and performing some type of life-saving (procedure), but I'm not sure what took place there." A timeline of events . CNN's Jason Hanna, Ashley Fantz and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report. Watch Anderson Cooper 360Β° weeknights 8pm ET. For the latest from AC360Β° click here. |
Chris: Hi there! Where are you? Any chance of skyping?
Rick: Hi! Our last two days in Cancun before flying to Havana. Yeah, skyping is an idea. When would it suit you?
Rick: We don't have the best of connections in the room but I can get you pretty well in the lobby.
Chris: What's the time in your place now?
Rick: 6:45 pm
Chris: It's a quarter to one in the morning here. Am still in front of the box.
Rick: Gracious me! Sorry mate. You needn't have answered.
Chris: 8-D
Rick: Just tell me when we could skype.
Chris: Preferably in the evening. Just a few hours earlier than now. And not tomorrow.
Rick: Shute! Only tomorrow makes sense as there's no workable internet in Cuba.
Chris: Could you make it like 3 pm your time?
Rick: Sure.
Chris: Perfect. So talk to you tomorrow.
Chris: Give my love to Helen please.
Rick: I will. Thx. |
a two - dimensional electron system interacting with an impurity and placed in crossed magnetic and electric fields is under investigation .
since it is assumed that an impurity center interacts as an attractive @xmath0-like potential a renormalization procedure for the retarded green s function has to be carried out . for the vanishing electric field we obtain a close analytical expression for the green s function and we find one bound state localized between landau levels .
it is also shown by numerical investigations that switching on the electric field new long - living resonance states localized in the vicinity of landau levels can be generated . |
(CNN)Think it's hard to redeem your miles for an airline award ticket? It depends on which airline rewards program you've chosen, which route you're flying and when you book your ticket, according to a new Consumer Reports study of 70 million passenger trips over the past two years. The magazine collected statistics comparing award-seat availability for the five biggest U.S. airlines on domestic routes. The top performer was Southwest Airlines, which offered the most award tickets, 11.9 million, and the highest percentage of award tickets -- 11.5% of 103.1 million total passenger seats. "The high number of award tickets is directly related to Southwest's unique combination of 'Every Seat is an Award Seat,' no blackout dates, points that don't expire, and a route map that reaches more than 90 different destinations in the U.S. and beyond, making us the largest domestic carrier in the U.S.," Southwest spokesperson Thais Conway Hanson told CNN. "Unlike other carriers, we also don't charge fees for close-in bookings or penalize you for canceling your trip if something else comes up." At the bottom of the list was JetBlue, which offered the lowest percentage of award seats and the fewest number of award tickets of the five biggest U.S. airlines: 892,000 one-way passenger tickets, or 4.5% of its total 19.7 million U.S. seats. (JetBlue only operates in 10 of the top 25 markets included in the study.) Many JetBlue customers fly the airline only once or twice per year, making it hard to accumulate miles, an airline spokesman told the magazine. By not allowing miles to expire anymore, the airline says customers will be able to eventually redeem them. Delta Air Lines came in second place with 5.6 million U.S. award seats; United Airlines ranked third with 5 million U.S. award tickets; and American Airlines was fourth with 3.5 million U.S. award seats. What are the world's safest airlines? Remember that award tickets aren't actually free. The cost of miles is built into everything you buy that's earning you miles, and the airlines profit from you not using your miles at all. So it behooves consumers to book award travel carefully. On average, nearly 10% of passengers on the five airlines analyzed by Consumer Reports flew on domestic award tickets, but some of them weren't getting the best value for their miles. While many U.S. fliers redeemed miles on American Airlines flights from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the cheapest average fare on that route was just over $100 -- not worth the 12,500 to 30,000 miles needed for an award ticket, Consumer Reports says. Better to use them on American Airlines' route between New York and San Francisco or Delta's route between Chicago and Los Angeles, which are generally more expensive than that Los Angeles-San Francisco route, according to Consumer Reports' calculations. While award-seat availability is important, it may not matter as much as passengers' overall satisfaction with an airline. Southwest had the highest customer satisfaction score (86), followed by JetBlue (85), Delta (70), American (66) and United (63). And don't forget the fees. Southwest doesn't charge any fees, while other airlines tack on fees for checking bags, booking by phone, changing plans and more. |
Joyce: Check this out!
Joyce: <link>
Michael: That's cheap!
Edson: No way! I'm booking my ticket now!! |
the in - medium properties of the vector mesons are known to be modified significantly in hot and dense hadronic matter due to vacuum polarisation effects from the baryon sector in the walecka model .
the vector meson mass drops significantly in the medium due to the effects of the dirac sea . in the variational approach adopted in the present paper ,
these effects are taken into account through a realignment of the ground state with baryon condensates .
such a realignment of the ground state becomes equivalent to summing of the baryonic tadpole diagrams in the relativistic hartree approximation ( rha ) .
the approximation scheme adopted here goes beyond rha to include quantum effects from the scalar meson and is nonperturbative and self consistent .
it includes multiloop effects , thus corresponding to a different approximation as compared to the one loop approximation of including scalar field quantum corrections . in the present work ,
we study the properties of the vector mesons in the hot and dense matter as modified due to such quantum correction effects from the baryon as well as scalar meson sectors .
these medium modifications of the properties of the vector mesons are reflected , through the shifting and broadening of the respective peaks , in the low mass dilepton spectra .
there is broadening of the peaks due to corrections from scalar meson quantum effects as compared to the relativistic hartree approximation .
it is seen to be rather prominent for the @xmath0 meson in the invariant mass plot .
# 1 |
(CNN)In July of 2013, the oldest of Jesus relics stories rose again when Turkish archaeologists discovered a stone chest in a 1,350-year-old church that appeared to contain a piece of Jesus' cross. "We have found a holy thing in a chest. It is a piece of a cross," said excavation team leader GΓΌlgΓΌn KΓΆroΔlu, an art historian and archaeologist. At the time, she thought the chest served as a symbolic coffin for a holy person's relics -- ones connected to Jesus' crucifixion. And then, silence. The latest relic of the cross on which Jesus had died stalled out because, as KΓΆroΔlu later said, the box that had contained allegedly holy objects was now -- mysteriously -- empty. The latest episode of the "true cross," a powerful identifier for the faith of more than two billion people, is symbolic of the pitfalls in the hunt for Jesus relics. To say something smacks of the "true cross" can mean it's a matter of divine certainty or of utter fraud. Could fragments of the true cross of Jesus really be among us today? Could fragments of a tree survive millennia? Or are they fragments of forgery that speak to our need to believe? The true cross phenomenon begins with Emperor Constantine, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He sent his mother Saint Helena (c. 246-330 CE) to find Jesus objects in the Holy Land. When Helena traveled to Jerusalem in 326 CE the city was still suffering the destruction caused by the last Jewish War in 132-35 CE. After defeating Israel, Roman Emperor Hadrian built a pagan temple over Jesus's tomb near Calvary -- a grave insult to the new religion. Helena ordered this pagan temple torn down and began to dig beneath it to find relics related to Jesus. Her workers found three different crosses -- a discovery directly relating to the Gospels, which tell us that Jesus was crucified along with two criminals. The historian Rufinus (c. 340-410) reveals that in order to discern which cross was Jesus', Helena had a dying local woman brought to the site. The ill woman touched two of the crosses, but nothing happened. Then she touched the third -- and she recovered. The true cross of Jesus had been revealed. Helena carved it up, leaving some of it in Jerusalem and transporting a chunk to Europe where it seemingly multiplied, so much so that Protestant reformer John Calvin said: "... if all the pieces that could be found were collected together, they would make a big ship-load. Yet the Gospel testifies that a single man was able to carry it." But was Calvin exaggerating to support his own reforms to Catholicism? How could we ever know what the true cross was made of, or looked like, since neither the Gospels -- nor the Romans -- bothered to tell us? Enter science. In 1870, French architect Charles Rohault de Fleury catalogued all known fragments of the true cross. He determined the Jesus cross weighed 165 pounds, was three or four meters high, with a cross beam two meters wide. If all these bits of the cross were cobbled together, he reckoned, they wouldn't amount to a third of the cross on which Jesus died. And based on the fragments he was allowed to examine by microscope, de Fleury concluded the true cross was made of pine wood. Later, four cross particles were also microscopically examined -- part of ten pieces of the true cross, accompanied by documentary proofs from Byzantine emperors. These fragments came from grand European churches: Santa Croce in Rome, Notre Dame in Paris, and the Cathedrals of Pisa and Florence. But scientists discovered that they were all made of olive wood. So now the question became: Was the cross of Jesus made of olive wood or pine? One of the perplexing realities for archaeologists is a lack of residual wood from the massive record of Roman crucifixion. Despite the fact the Romans killed tens of thousands of people through crucifixion -- and as many as 500 a day during the siege of Jerusalem from 66-70 CE -- the only piece of evidence connected to this terrible punishment was discovered in 1968, when archaeologists found the heel bone of a crucified man with the nail still intact. In the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel Hershkovitz, who teaches anatomy and archaeology at Tel Aviv University, said that the heel bone of the crucified man was found in a Jewish burial tomb in a northern suburb of Jerusalem, near Golgotha -- the hill where the Romans crucified people. The man, whose ossuary, or burial box, identified him as Yehohanan, was in his mid 20s when he died on the cross. His good teeth and lack of heavy musculature meant that he most likely came from a wealthy family, for most crucifixion victims were far too humble to wind up in tombs --save for Jesus, who was put in one by the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea. Others buried in the same tomb as Yehohanan had connections to the Temple, so it's possible that he was killed by the Romans for some political transgression. Yehohanan was cut down from the cross with a 4.5-inch nail still in his right heel bone, and with part of a board still attached to the head of the nail. Hershkovitz believes that the relative shortness of the length of the nail reveals much about Roman crucifixion methods. "The nail was too short (to go through) two heel bones, so sure enough each foot was hammered separately to the cross." Hershkovitz is convinced that crosses were not made from olive trees because the people depended on the olive tree for food and wouldn't be slashing them down to make crosses. More importantly, for the purpose at hand, they wouldn't be suitable because of the structure of the tree itself. Olive trees don't grow tall and straight, it branches everywhere, and there are a lot of holes in the wood, making it difficult to support the nails against the weight of the victim. "The olive tree is the least appropriate tree. We have different type of local oaks that better serve the purpose." Today there are even more "true cross" fragments on display around the world: on Mount Athos, in Rome, in Brussels, in Venice, in Ghent, in Paris, in Spain, in Serbia -- and even in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, where a fragment of the true cross came along as part of the family chapel imported there and rebuilt by Theodore Boal for his French bride. If you want your own sliver of the cross on which Jesus died, eBay offers several choices -- with some having original wax seals preserving "integrity" and some having documents attesting to their authenticity. Mark Goodacre, a professor at Duke University's Department of Religion, says that this continued emphasis on the genuineness of true cross fragments is often at the expense of the cross's meaning. "The thing about the cross is you've always got to remember that it's about the person who hung there, the wood itself in the end is just the instrument of torture." Michael McKinley is co-author, with David Gibson, of "Finding Jesus: Faith. Fact. Forgery.: Six Holy Objects That Tell the Remarkable Story of the Gospels." |
Andy: Hello. I have had a good look and have done some tests on the mould in your spare bedroom upstairs and in the dinign room.
Betty: Hello Andy. Thank you for that, what are your thoughts?
Andy: I think it is caused by condensation, as most of the moist settles on and around the windows.
Betty: Why is that?
Andy: Those are the coldest areas and therefore where the moist in the warm air turns into water. On the windows its just water, on the walls the moist will allow mould to grow.
Betty: So why is it all over the spare room walls, and all around the dining room? but not in other rooms?
Andy: Probably because they have external walls which are cooler than internal walls.
Betty: so why only that bedroom and not the other ones?
Andy: I guess those rooms are most effected as the spare room is next to the bathroom and the dining room next to the kitchen.
Betty: But why isnt there mould on the kitchen and bathroom itself then?
Andy: I think that is because the kitchen doesn't have external walls and the bathroom has only one external wall and a fan in it. The difference when i measured it between internal wall and external wall is about 4 degrees.
Betty: Does that mean we need new double glazed windows or new wall insulation?
Andy: Not necessarily. that would make a little difference but would still leave you with moist air in the house, so it would just settle somewhere else.
Betty: So what would you recommend?
Andy: I would install a fan system, or PIV system, which would circulate air to dilute and take some moisture out of the air. It would be installed in your loft and be on continuously during day and night.
Betty: That sounds good. would that be sufficient?
Andy: If you buy a decent size it will be, but you would also need to treat your walls to get rid of the current mould. That will not go away by itself.
Betty: OK, is this something your company can help with?
Andy: It is indeed, we can repaint as well if you want.
Betty: Good point. Could you please send me a detailed quote for the work via email?
Andy: Of course, I will have that done by Friday.
Betty: That would be great. And again, thanks for today!
Andy: No problem, speak soon. |
* we provide evidence that indicate the star cluster pfleiderer2 , which is projected in a rich field , as a newly identified galactic globular cluster . *
since it is located in a crowded field , core extraction and decontamination tools were applied to reveal the cluster sequences in b , v and i color - magnitude diagrams ( cmds ) .
the main cmd features of pfleiderer2 are a tilted red giant branch , and a red horizontal branch , indicating a high metallicity around solar .
the reddening is e(b - v)=1.01 .
the globular cluster is located at a distance from the sun d@xmath0 = 16@xmath12 kpc .
the cluster is located at 2.7 kpc above the galactic plane and at a distance from the galactic center of r@xmath2=9.7kpc , which is unusual for a metal - rich globular cluster . |
(CNN)Oprah's in there. So's Bill Murray, George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Jerry Seinfeld, Howard Stern, Tina Fey, Michael Keaton and Ray Romano. On Tuesday, "The Late Show with David Letterman" announced some of the guests for the talk show host's final month of broadcasts. The last "Late Show" will air Wednesday, May 20. Among the notables are Oprah Winfrey, with whom Letterman has had an on-and-off faux feud for years; Clooney, who's starring in "Tomorrowland," which will be released on May 22; and Stern, who's always an engaging Letterman guest. But longtime fans may be even more intrigued by the appearances of Keaton, an old acquaintance who once shared a stage with Letterman as players on Mary Tyler Moore's short-lived 1978 variety show, and Murray, who was the very first guest on Letterman's old NBC show, "Late Night with David Letterman." Steve Martin, who's taken part in some of the "Late Show's" best bits, will also be dropping by. Letterman has been a late-night host for 33 years, close to 22 of them on CBS' "Late Show." Stephen Colbert will take over the "Late Show" on September 8. |
Matt: results should be announced soon
Matt: probably today
Oliver: they posted it
Oliver: <file_other>
Peter: I didn't get into Stanford :(
Matt: let me see
Matt: yup, I did
Oliver: me too
Oliver: barely
Peter: I'm happy for you guys
Matt: chin up! there are many other options
Oliver: exactly, don't give up
Peter: thanks guys, that means a lot
Peter: send your documents asap
Peter: otherwise you'll stuck in the queue
Matt: thanks for a heads-up
Oliver: yea, we owe you one
Peter: I have to look for other university
Peter: see ya
Matt: bye |
protein aggregation is of great importance in biology , e.g. , in amyloid fibrillation .
the aggregation processes that occur at the cellular scale must be highly stochastic in nature because of the statistical number fluctuations that arise on account of the small system size at the cellular scale .
we study the nucleated reversible self - assembly of monomeric building blocks into polymer - like aggregates using the method of kinetic monte carlo .
kinetic monte carlo , being inherently stochastic , allows us to study the impact of fluctuations on the polymerisation reactions .
one of the most important characteristic features in this kind of problem is the existence of a lag phase before self - assembly takes off , which is what we focus attention on .
we study the associated lag time as a function of the system size and kinetic pathway .
we find that the leading order stochastic contribution to the lag time before polymerisation commences is inversely proportional to the system volume for large - enough system size for all nine reaction pathways tested .
finite - size corrections to this do depend on the kinetic pathway . |
(CNN)I'm haunted by the video of Officer Michael Slager firing eight shots at Walter Scott as he fled his encounter with North Charleston police -- his back turned to the officer. What I find more disturbing is how the officer cuffs the fallen Scott and allows him to die face-down in the dirt while Slager appears to plant an item next to his body. I understand why people are skeptical of self-defense claims -- especially from law enforcement. If not for the video taken by a bystander, I can't help but think that this story would be shuttered behind the wall of an active investigation. As a defense attorney, I am more sensitive than anyone to the assumption of innocence for those accused of a crime, but this single piece of evidence -- a video of a man shot in the back while in full retreat -- defies any reasonable explanation. Thank God there was a camera. It will help ensure that justice will be served in this case. However, there is another camera that -- had it been deployed -- might have prevented the entire tragedy: a police body camera. Throughout the entire encounter with Scott, it's clear Slager had no idea someone was filming him. Had he known there would be video of his every move, would he have drawn his weapon on a fleeing man? Would he have fired? Eight times? Would he have misrepresented the encounter on his police report? Of course not. If Slager had been wearing a body camera, Scott would probably still be alive, and Slager wouldn't be facing the possibility of life in prison -- or a possible death sentence. Body cameras are expensive to deploy, sure. And storing the massive amounts of data that body cameras create costs even more. That cost, however -- if we're talking the monetary kind -- may be eclipsed by the punitive damages delivered to Scott's family in an inevitable civil suit against the North Charleston Police Department. Most importantly, we have to ask ourselves this: What's the value of a human life? Certainly it's worth the price of some mass data storage. And there's something else at stake. The public is losing confidence in law enforcement, and the strained relationship between minorities and police is reaching a breaking point. Every police shooting that captures headlines justifies an ever increasing fear of cops in the street. As fear ratchets up, so does the tension between cops and the people in the communities they serve. As tension rises, the risk of more shootings increases. It is a cycle of destruction that could lead to chaos. Police body cameras can help break this cycle. Studies have shown that both cops and people in the community act better when they know they are on camera. Complaints against cops decrease, and, most importantly, use-of-force incidents drop. I will admit that body cameras are only an interim solution. They only help compensate for the real underlying problem, which is this: There is a bias against black men that has infiltrated the criminal justice system, and we are seeing it in the disproportionate shooting of black men. When we look at this footage -- and when we see the dashboard camera from the other South Carolina officer who last year shot a man who was reaching for his driver's license -- it's clear that many cops are more likely to interpret actions, even routine actions, from black men as potentially aggressive. These may not be overtly racist cops. They may not intentionally treat black men differently, but we can't pretend that black men aren't being disproportionately targeted. All across the country, we see it happening, and with the proliferation of video, we're seeing it happen with alarming frequency. Somehow, we're going to have to beat this bias out of our system. Set tougher employment screening standards when hiring cops. Institute more training to help officers recognize the bias and adjust for it. As a society, we have to focus on the broad social changes needed to address disparities in income, education and opportunities -- disparities that keep us a racially divided nation. But social change, sadly, may take generations of hard work. In the meantime, if we can't immediately root out racial bias, we can at least put a bright spotlight on it, and we can start by focusing on the one interaction where racial bias results in the loss of life -- we can start by placing body-mounted cameras on cops. |
Phil: can you go out today?
Phoebe: no
Phoebe: my mum is still angry
Phil: why?
Phoebe: i used her perfume
Phil: so what?
Phoebe: i used it and broke it
Phil: really?
Phil: xd lol
Phoebe: not funny
Phoebe: it was very expensive
Phoebe: besides, our whole house stinks
Phil: so it was not so beautiful perfume?
Phoebe: it was, but not 100 ml for 80 square meters |
an important problem in econometrics and marketing is to infer the causal impact that a designed market intervention has exerted on an outcome metric over time .
this paper proposes to infer causal impact on the basis of a diffusion - regression state - space model that predicts the counterfactual market response in a synthetic control that would have occurred had no intervention taken place .
in contrast to classical difference - in - differences schemes , state - space models make it possible to ( i ) infer the temporal evolution of attributable impact , ( ii ) incorporate empirical priors on the parameters in a fully bayesian treatment , and ( iii ) flexibly accommodate multiple sources of variation , including local trends , seasonality and the time - varying influence of contemporaneous covariates . using a markov chain monte carlo algorithm for posterior inference , we illustrate the statistical properties of our approach on simulated data .
we then demonstrate its practical utility by estimating the causal effect of an online advertising campaign on search - related site visits .
we discuss the strengths and limitations of state - space models in enabling causal attribution in those settings where a randomised experiment is unavailable .
the causalimpact r package provides an implementation of our approach . , , , |
(CNN)Suspected Boko Haram militants this week attacked civilians inside Cameroon for the first time in a month, killing at least 16 villagers, a military spokesman told CNN Saturday. Six attackers were killed by Cameroonian forces, said Maj. Nlate Eballe, an operations officer with a special military unit set up to fight Boko Haram. The attackers came Thursday "in the hundreds ... torched Dia village in the Far North Region," he said. Dia is a village that borders Lake Chad and has been identified as a recruiting ground for Boko Haram. Regional Gov. Mijiyawa Bakary said the insurgents have been attacking border villages in Cameroon in search of supplies. Cameroonian troops retook cattle that was stolen by the attackers in Dia, Eballe said. The last attack in Cameroon by the Nigeria-based militants was March 10, when the assailants struck the locality of Kerawa-Mafa in a failed attempt to overrun a military base. Boko Haram, whose name translates as "Western education is sin," has been waging a years-long campaign of terror aimed at instituting its extreme version of Sharia law in Nigeria. Boko Haram's tactics have intensified in recent years, from battling Nigerian government soldiers to acts disproportionately affecting civilians -- such as raids on villages, mass kidnappings, assassinations, market bombings and attacks on churches and unaffiliated mosques. Much of this violence has taken place in Nigeria, but neighboring countries -- Cameroon included -- have also been hit increasingly hard. Journalist Ngala Killian Chimtom in Yaounde, Cameroon, contributed to this report. |
Stanley: I canβt believe in herβ¦
Bill: What is it? And who?
Stanley: Del, sheβs behaving kind ofβ¦ stupid
Bill: Meaning?
Stanley: I told her I canβt go for this weekend with her because of work
Bill: And? How did she react?
Stanley: She was angry and wouldnβt listen to me. She accused me of having an affair o.O
Bill: Youβve been together for like 4 moths and sheβs already doing sth like that???
Stanley: I know, itβs crazy. I starting to give up.
Bill: So what, thatβs it?
Stanley: No, Iβll talk to her when sheβs back, Iβll tell her it canβt be like this, see what will she say
Bill: Sorry to say that, I donβt think youβll bring any good news xD
Stanley: Actually, me too. But at least Iβll try
Bill: Well, Iβm sorry. We need to take care of the Lidem project right now.
Stanley: Yes Iβm finishing the analysis for the pervious one, but it should be done tonight, so I can start working on it today
Bill: The problem is I donβt what you should do ;p
Stanley: whaaat
Bill: The analysis of tasks is not done yet, Alison disappeared from all the media and wonβt answer her phone
Stanley: Great. So division of the tasks is on me?
Bill: Yes because Iβm already researching when it comes to the funding.
Stanley: Weβll do, itβll be ready tomorrow, not sure what time.
Bill: OK, keep me posted.
Stanley: Btw, itβs weird that Alison is out of touch
Bill: No at all, itβs not the first time
Stanley: Women⦠|
we study the problem of generating a test sequence that achieves maximal coverage for a reactive system under test .
we formulate the problem as a repeated game between the tester and the system , where the system state space is partitioned according to some coverage criterion and the objective of the tester is to maximize the set of partitions ( or coverage goals ) visited during the game .
we show the complexity of the maximal coverage problem for non - deterministic systems is pspace - complete , but is np - complete for deterministic systems . for the special case of non - deterministic systems with a re - initializing `` reset '' action , which represent running a new test input on a re - initialized system ,
we show that the complexity is again co - np - complete .
our proof technique for reset games uses randomized testing strategies that circumvent the exponentially large memory requirement in the deterministic case . |
(CNN)In case you needed a reminder that President Barack Obama isn't running for office again, he just alienated not only Republicans, who have largely resented him from day one, but the progressive base of Democratic voters. Obama has argued with the progressive potentate Elizabeth Warren, calling her "wrong" on trade policy. The Massachusetts senator is the same potentate to whom Hillary Clinton has been religiously prostrating. What everyone does next will be critical for the 2016 elections and the future of Democratic politics. Warren has publicly criticized so-called "fast track" trade authority that would allow the White House to negotiate massive, multination trade deals with little congressional oversight. The authority would pave the way for trade pacts such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is modeled on the North American Free Trade Agreement, and has killed 700,000 American jobs and drove wages down in the United States while simultaneously decimating Mexican agriculture and small businesses. Aspects of the TPP deal would provide incentives for off-shoring jobs to low-wage countries, imposing limits on government regulations around food safety and the environment, and create mechanisms for multinational corporations to challenge any domestic laws they simply don't like. In December, Warren wrote a letter signed by several other Democrats to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman raising concerns about the TPP. The letter warned that the TPP could erode safeguards that have been put in place to "prevent future financial crises." "We cannot afford a trade deal that undermines the government's ability to protect the American economy," Warren wrote. At a town hall with MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Tuesday, President Obama said, "I love Elizabeth. We're allies on a whole host of issues. But she's wrong on this." Obama added, "When you hear folks make a lot of suggestions about how bad this trade deal is, when you dig into the facts, they are wrong." But "I'm right and she's wrong" doesn't exactly come off as a thoughtful, let alone respectful, response to the policy critiques of one of the most trusted economic justice leaders in the Democratic Party today. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is trying to walk a fine line somewhere in the middle. Clinton has recently courted Warren's support while forcefully repeating the rhetoric of populism. But according to a report by The New York Times, Clinton's staff is at pains to suggest that Clinton has always been a populist as opposed to merely trying to now co-opt a current trend. Yet it becomes harder to paint Clinton as the "original Elizabeth Warren" each time she equivocates on trade policy and the TPP. In a 2012 speech as secretary of state, Clinton praised the TPP as "the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field." But now, as she campaigns for president facing a Democratic electorate divided over the deal, Clinton is sounding more critical. "Any trade deal has to produce jobs and raise wages and increase prosperity and protect our security," Clinton said this week. So does Clinton support the TPP deal or not? Campaigning in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Clinton reportedly declined to say one way or the other. That's not the behavior of a fierce populist. It's more indicative of the sort of politically calculated, ideologically centrist "triangulation" for which her husband was famous. Seizing on Clinton's ambiguity, her potential challenger in the Democratic primary, Martin O'Malley, released a video this week making clear that he is against the TPP. According to a poll, as of 2012 just 1 in 4 Americans believed that NAFTA had benefited U.S. workers and only 1 in 3 believed it had benefited the U.S. economy overall. Even most Republicans in this poll supported the position that the United States should either "renegotiate" or "leave" NAFTA versus "continue to be a member." In other words, any political leader with even the dimmest grasp of economics let alone political pragmatism should run away from a new trade deal modeled on imitating and expanding NAFTA. While it's not surprising that Republicans are siding with big business and against working Americans in supporting the TPP, it's befuddling that President Obama supports it. The only hope now is for 2016 Democratic candidates, especially Clinton at this point, to support populism not just in rhetoric but in real policy terms and show which party is, for the most part, on the side of the people and not on the side of multinational corporations. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid minced no words in revealing his position about trade "fast track" authority: "I'm not only no, I'm hell no." If Hillary Clinton wants to prove she's a real populist, now's her chance to be even more clear. |
Dominique: what's for the test tomorro?
Denise: units 2 and 3
Dominique: ok tx
Denise: np |
we analyze the effects of lepton asymmetry on neutrino oscillations and on cosmological nucleosynthesis with active - sterile oscillating neutrinos .
it is shown that small lepton asymmetries , @xmath0 , whose direct kinetic effect on nucleosynthesis is negligible , still effect nucleosynthesis considerably through their influence on oscillating neutrinos .
two different cases of lepton asymmetry are discussed : an initially present and a dynamically generated in oscillations . _ dynamically generated in resonant oscillations asymmetry _ at small mixing angles suppresses oscillations , hence , the nucleosynthesis bounds on neutrino mass differences at small mixings are relaxed .
_ initially present asymmetry _ may suppress or enhance oscillations .
the enhancement is a result of interchanging resonances between neutrino and antineutrino ensembles due to resonance waves passing through the neutrino and antineutrino spectrum .
updated nucleosynthesis bounds on neutrino oscillation parameters accounting for lepton asymmetry are presented . |
(CNN)When Bruce Jenner told ABC's Diane Sawyer and the world on Friday night that "Yes, for all intents and purposes, I'm a woman," the declaration wasn't particularly surprising. Paparazzi have been stalking the former Olympic champion for months, breathlessly documenting his increasingly feminine appearance down to his lip gloss, pierced ears and French manicure. The social media reaction? A cheer, a shrug -- and not much else. Except the occasional prod at Jenner also being Republican. Of course, Jenner's family owned the moment, being the reality TV mavens they are -- the Jenners and the Kardashians. "So very proud of you, my hero," tweeted daughter Kendall Jenner. His other daughter Kylie Jenner expressed mixed emotions. "Understandingly, this has been very hard for me. You will hear what I have to say when I'm ready to but ... this isn't about me. I'm so proud of you, Dad. You are so brave. My beautiful Hero," she said on Twitter. Ex-wife Kris Jenner was equally supportive. "Not only was I able to call him my husband for 25 years and father of my children, I am now able to call him my hero," she said. Stepdaughters Kim, KhloΓ© and Kourtney Kardashian also joined the family chorus. "Love is the courage to live the truest, best version of yourself. Bruce is love. I love you Bruce. #ProudDaughter," Kim tweeted. "Just finished watching the #BruceJennerInterview with the family. Bruzer, I'm soooo proud of you! Dads really are heros β€οΈ," KhloΓ© said on Twitter. "Couldn't be a more proud daughter. With courage and bravery, let's change the world. I am honored to stand by Bruce's side and support him," Kourtney said. The entertainment industry was quick to embrace the news. Lady Gaga has long supported lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. "We have the chance to write this moment in history together," she tweeted. "Let's empower people like Bruce all over the world by being loving & not mean.π" Transgender actress Laverne Cox of "Orange is the New Black" gave a shout out. "Sending lots of love and support to #BruceJenner and their family tonight," she tweeted. "It is always brave to stand in one's truth. Congrats darling." The Jenner interview was a key moment for advocacy groups like GLAAD and the National Center for Transgender Equality, thrusting LGBT issues into the spotlight. "Today, millions of people learned that someone they know is transgender," GLAAD tweeted. "Welcome, #BruceJenner," Trans Equality tweeted. "Thank you for your courage and bravery." As with all things, public opinion is hardly unanimous and social media only represents the views of those who post. Still, there were few detractors. One man used an Old Testament Bible verse as the basis for his stance. "GOP Logic: Bruce Jenner is not Gay...but Transgender," Benny said on Twitter. "Still forbidden by the Bible but we cherrypick." This woman wasn't sure what to make of Jenner's announcement. "Still confused about Bruce Jenner becoming a woman...," tweeted HugHey. And what would a social media event be without a good dose of humor. Many folks seemed to be more intrigued by Jenner's announcement that he's Republican than him coming out as a woman. "I accept that Bruce Jenner is a Republican and wish him happiness, even if I can't understand it," said Johnny McNulty. "I'll accept Bruce Jenner's choice to live how he wants much easier than leftists will accept his politics," CounterMoonbat said on twitter. And this final nugget from Bibi. "Bruce Jenner: *comes out as a woman* . "Everyone: "Yas girl, slay" "Bruce Jenner: *comes out as a republican* . Everyone: "disgusting" |
luke: Hey, was just thinking, we should avail ourselves for team selection tomorrow regardless of our injuries
martial: thats what i was thinking also
luke: we should let Jose know that tomorrow
martial: the first thing in the morning infact
luke: the fixtures are really piling up and we need to help the team
martial: yeah, thats for sure, we are a family
luke: we will the coach know that we are ready to play
martial: despite the little pain, me i'm ready
luke: me too
martial: so we meet up at carrington and go to his office very early
luke: yeah, both of us
martial: ok, we'll go together
luke: cool
martial: ok |
we study the interaction between low - lying transverse collective oscillations and thermal excitations of an elongated bose - einstein condensate by means of perturbation theory .
we consider a cylindrically trapped condensate and calculate the transverse elementary excitations at zero temperature by solving the linearized gross - pitaevskii equations in two dimensions .
we use them to calculate the matrix elements between thermal excited states coupled with the quasi-2d collective modes .
the landau damping of transverse collective modes is investigated as a function of temperature . at low temperatures , the damping rate due to the landau decay mechanism is in agreement with the experimental data for the decay of the transverse quadrupole mode , but it is too small to explain the slow experimental decay of the transverse breathing mode .
the reason for this discrepancy is discussed . |
Seoul, South Korea (CNN)The man accused of stabbing U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert in Seoul last month is now charged with attempted murder, a South Korean court official said Wednesday. Kim Ki-Jong has also been charged with assaulting a foreign envoy and business obstruction, the Seoul Central District Court official said. According to South Korean law, Kim's trial must begin within 14 days of receiving today's indictment. Lippert was stabbed March 5 during an event organized by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, which advocates peaceful reunification between North and South Korea. Shortly before Lippert was supposed to give a speech, the attacker slashed him in the face and jaw. The ambassador suffered a gash from his right cheekbone to his lower jaw that required 80 stitches. That wound measured 10 centimeters (4 inches) long and 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) deep, but there was no serious facial nerve damage, said Dr. Jung Nam-shik of the Yonsei Severance Hospital. Lippert also suffered five cuts in his left arm and hand, but was not expected to have permanent damage to his arm function. Police said Kim stabbed Lippert with a 10-inch knife because he opposed the joint South Korean-U.S. military drills, which happen every year and frequently draw the ire of North Korea. Police official Yoon Myeong-seong told reporters that Kim had visited North Korea seven times between 1999 and 2007, and that authorities were investigating a possible connection between his visits to the reclusive state and the attack against Lippert. Kim, 55, has a history of unpredictable behavior. In 2010, he received a suspended two-year prison sentence for throwing a piece of concrete at a Japanese ambassador to South Korea, according to the Yonhap news agency. South Korean President Park Geun-hye condemned the attack. "This incident is not only a physical attack on the U.S. ambassador," she said, "but an attack on the South Korea-U.S. alliance and it can never be tolerated." CNN's Madison Park and Greg Botelho contributed to this report. |
Natalie: Could anybody check if my wallet is in my room?
Jenny: I'm not home
Tobias: It's here <file_photo>
Natalie: phew |
statistical learning theory chiefly studies restricted hypothesis classes , particularly those with finite vapnik - chervonenkis ( vc ) dimension .
the fundamental quantity of interest is the sample complexity : the number of samples required to learn to a specified level of accuracy .
here we consider learning over the set of all computable labeling functions .
since the vc - dimension is infinite and a priori ( uniform ) bounds on the number of samples are impossible , we let the learning algorithm decide when it has seen sufficient samples to have learned . we first show that learning in this setting is indeed possible , and develop a learning algorithm .
we then show , however , that bounding sample complexity independently of the distribution is impossible .
notably , this impossibility is entirely due to the requirement that the learning algorithm be computable , and not due to the statistical nature of the problem . |
(CNN)On July 20, 2012, excited moviegoers gathered for a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" at the Century Aurora 16 Multiplex Theater in Aurora, Colorado. Eighteen minutes into the show, and shortly after midnight, a gunman opened fire on the audience. Twelve people were killed and 70 were injured. On Monday, shooting suspect James Holmes goes on trial for 165 counts, including murder and attempted murder charges. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. It's a moment the survivors and those who lost loved ones have waited for anxiously. It's a moment that will be a painful next step toward healing and one that will no doubt bring back a flood of painful memories. Ahead of the trial, CNN spoke with several people whose lives were changed because of the shooting. They will attend at least part of the trial. Pierce O'Farrill made a last-minute decision to go to the movies with a friend. O'Farrill was shot multiple times and collapsed as he tried to escape. The shooter stood above him, and O'Farrill prepared to die. Then, the gunman moved in another direction. O'Farrill soon saw an officer who told him he was going to make it. Kaylan Bailey attended the movie with her cousin, Jamison, his girlfriend, Ashley, and their daughter, Veronica. Kaylan, just 13 at the time, babysat 6-year-old Veronica often. She had watched her earlier in the day when Ashley, who was pregnant, had an appointment for an ultrasound. When she heard gunfire, Kaylan made a heartrending 911 call. Ashley, Jamison and Veronica had all been shot. Veronica was the youngest to die in the theater. Ashley was paralyzed and later suffered a miscarriage because of the trauma she suffered. Jamison was shot in the head and survived. Tom and Caren Teves lost their son, Alex, who was in the theater with his girlfriend. When the shooting began, Alex shielded his girlfriend, saving her life and absorbing the bullets that would take his. The Teveses remember Alex as someone who was fearless, funny and gave the greatest hugs. "The world had a great person taken out of it that could've done so much more," Caren Teves said. The Teveses launched a campaign called "No Notoriety" to challenge the media to not show photos or use the name of the shooter. Marcus Weaver was at the movies with his friend, Rebecca Wingo. As the gunman opened fire, Marcus and Rebecca dropped to the ground. During a break in the gunshots, Marcus tried to get to the exit, taking Rebecca, who was unconscious, with him. The shots started again and it was chaos. Marcus had been hit in the shoulder with buckshot, but he made it to an exit. Rebecca didn't make it out alive. Weaver remembers her as a bright and shining person with a contagious smile. Here, in their own words, is a glimpse at what these people are experiencing 2Β½ years after the shooting and as the trial begins. O'Farrill: "I don't think the shooting has defined me as a person. But I think what I've learned from it, the strength that I've gained from overcoming something this terrible, has become a defining factor of my life." Bailey: "I would say that the theater shooting is life-changing, but I don't think it defines me." Caren Teves: "The ripple effect from this whole tragedy is just endless. It goes on and on and on." Tom Teves: "People start to shy away from you, too. Because it's just too painful. And they're afraid of the fact that you're a window into the fact that evil exists. Because you're proof that evil exists, not in your persona but in what happened to your child." Weaver: "And so as you ask about life, how I see it, I just see it in a different lens. And it took a while to get used to that lens. Because I couldn't do the same thing I did before. I just wasn't that person anymore. I rarely go out to restaurants and stuff. Because, you know, people come up to you and start talking about it. ... "I don't think anybody who was in that theater that night will ever be the same." O'Farrill: "We woke up today, we got out of bed; this was the day that the Lord promised us. But he certainly hasn't promised us that ... we'll live to see another one. So for me, just living in gratitude and being grateful for every moment I get has been key to my healing." Caren Teves: "It doesn't get any easier. You just learn to fake it better. ... You get stronger carrying the weight." Weaver: "... just like my arm's going to heal, so will I. And we'll all move past this. And we'll get stronger. " O'Farrill: "I do hope to meet him someday. It's something that's been on my heart since the shooting happened. And I hope to meet him and just tell him in person, 'Look, you know, you tried to kill me but I don't hate you, and I forgive you. And there's only one way that's possible and that's through Jesus.'" Bailey: "No, I don't forgive him. He took so many people's lives, and he hurt so many other people that weren't even in the theater. He hurt families and friends and just everybody in Aurora, honestly." Caren Teves: "As far as forgiveness goes -- normally, I will forgive someone who asks for forgiveness. In this case, I haven't had anyone ask for forgiveness." Tom Teves: "God will forgive anyone who asks for forgiveness. But that also means that you have to stand up and take responsibility for your actions." Weaver: "There's no doubt about it. I forgive him. I really don't even think about him that much at this point ... I just didn't want to carry that bag of rocks on my back anymore." O'Farrill: "The trial starting, I think, will kind of stir things up. And it's been something I've really been trying to prepare myself for, you know. Talking to my counselor about it and praying on it daily, and understanding that, again, I can't control how it all unfolds, you know. But I can be prepared for it." Bailey: "I've never been involved in something so serious. I don't think it's hit me. I don't think I realize what I'm going into." Tom Teves: "It doesn't bring these emotions to the surface again for us. These emotions never leave for us." Weaver: "You start thinking about being on that stand. You start thinking about seeing the shooter right there. You start thinking about -- just all kinds of things and what's it going to be like. And it just races in your head, if you let it, you know? So part of the coping skills is you just don't let it. Go do something different. Go exercise. Go hang out with your wife." O'Farrill: "Whatever punishment James Holmes receives is not going to be part of my closure. I certainly understand that other folks are looking forward to that and that's their path. But we all have different paths to healing." Bailey: "So, like, I don't think that if he does get the death penalty, then, I'll, I don't know how to word this. I won't be happy because that's another person's life. But I think he deserves it." Caren Teaves: "The only justice, for me ... is if that thing was in an urn on my dresser, and Alex was sitting next to us on this couch. That's the only justice." Weaver: "Although I'm not a death penalty person, if the death penalty was ever warranted in any case, it's this case." |
Ivan: hey eric
Eric: yeah man
Ivan: so youre coming to the wedding
Eric: your brother's
Ivan: yea
Eric: i dont know mannn
Ivan: YOU DONT KNOW??
Eric: i just have a lot to do at home, plus i dont know if my parents would let me
Ivan: ill take care of your parents
Eric: youre telling me you have the guts to talk to them XD
Ivan: thats my problem
Eric: okay man, if you say so
Ivan: yea just be there
Eric: alright |
a general theory is presented to describe optomechanical interactions of acoustic phonons , having extremely long lifetimes in superfluid @xmath0he , with optical photons in the medium placed in a suitable electromagnetic cavity .
the acoustic nonlinearity in the fluid motion is included to consider processes beyond the usual linear process involving absorption or emission of one phonon at a time .
we first apply our formulation to the simplest one - phonon process involving the usual resonant anti - stokes upconversion of an incident optical mode .
however , when the allowed optical cavity modes are such that there is no single - phonon mode in the superfluid which can give rise to a resonant allowed anti - stokes mode , we must consider the possibility of two - phonon upconversion .
for such a case , we show that the two - step two - phonon process could be dominant .
we present arguments for large two - step process and negligible single step two - phonon contribution .
the two - step process also shows interesting quantum interference among different transition pathways . |
(CNN)A judge this week sentenced a former TSA agent to six months in jail for secretly videotaping a female co-worker while she was in the bathroom, prosecutors said. During the investigation, detectives with the Metro Nashville Police Department in Tennessee also found that the agent, 33-year-old Daniel Boykin, entered the woman's home multiple times, where he took videos, photos and other data. Police found more than 90 videos and 1,500 photos of the victim on Boykin's phone and computer. The victim filed a complaint after seeing images of herself on his phone last year. Boykin plead guilty to unlawful photography, aggravated burglary and violation of the computer act, the Nashville District Attorney's Office said. Police said the incident happened in a TSA-only restroom, and that there was no evidence public restrooms were targeted. A TSA official tells CNN that Boykin worked in an administrative capacity and didn't engage in public security screening. Assistant District Attorney Amy Hunter said this case was one of the worst invasion of privacy cases she's seen. "We are thankful that the sentence includes periodic confinement so that the sentence will hopefully make an impression on this defendant and others," Hunter said in a statement. The judge, Randall Wyatt, on Friday called the invasion of privacy "egregious." His sentence also includes five and a half years of probation, which will include GPS monitoring. Boykin was terminated last year when the investigation began. "TSA holds its employees to the highest ethical standards and has zero tolerance for misconduct in the workplace," TSA's Ross Feinstein said in a statement. |
Danna: How's your Saturday?
Reed: It was alright thanks
Danna: Good
Reed: Yours ?
Danna: Boring
Reed: Why?
Danna: I'm angry I called maybe 5-8 of my friends and they aren't around or are busy.
Reed: Shame
Danna: So it's is the next boring weekend for me
Reed: That sucks
Danna: The only thing I can do is watching TV -.-
Reed: Haha lucky you
Danna: Yeah haha
Reed: I don't have tv, our subscription expired and they never renewed it. They want us to pay for it so fuck it
Danna: Yeah. What are you doing?
Reed: I'm in bed
Danna: Work tomorrow?
Reed: No. Off tomorrow
Danna: Nice
Reed: Indeed |
we provide an analytical description of the dynamics of an atom in an optical lattice using the method of perturbative adiabatic expansion .
a precise understanding of the lattice - atom interaction is essential to taking full advantage of the promising applications that optical lattices offer in the field of atom interferometry .
one such application is the implementation of large momentum transfer ( lmt ) beam splitters that can potentially provide multiple order of magnitude increases in momentum space separations over current technology .
we also propose interferometer geometries where optical lattices are used as waveguides for the atoms throughout the duration of the interferometer sequence .
such a technique could simultaneously provide a multiple order of magnitude increase in sensitivity and a multiple order of magnitude decrease in interferometer size for many applications as compared to current state - of - the - art atom interferometers . |
(CNN)Amy Schumer seems to be trying single-handedly this week to make everyone in America laugh. And she's off to a good start. The comedian took a fake tumble on the red carpet Tuesday night at the 2015 TIME 100 gala in New York -- right in front of fellow honorees Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, who stepped around her as they moved down the line. The stunt drew guffaws from the paparazzi and other onlookers, although Kanye -- perhaps not used to being upstaged -- looked unamused. "I saw them, and I asked my publicist, 'Can I dive in front of them and act like I fell?' And she said, 'I can't stop you,' " Schumer told People. The prank came the same night the third season of Schumer's hit show, "Inside Amy Schumer," premiered on Comedy Central. The episode has won praise for its "Milk Milk Lemonade" video, which ridicules mens' obsession with a certain female body part, and a "Friday Night Lights" parody in which high school football players protest their new coach's "no raping" policy. And it came the night after Schumer appeared on CBS' "The Late Show" and turned David Letterman red-faced when she lifted her dress to show him a scar she got from surfing and said, "That's my vagina." Letterman, who had urged her to "do something now that you'll regret," turned to the chortling audience and said, "Well, I asked for it, didn't I?" So yes, you can say Schumer -- who in the past two weeks has graced the cover of Entertainment Weekly, hosted the MTV Movie Awards and learned her TV show was just renewed for a fourth season -- is having a moment. "They were right there! The epicenter of American (celebrity culture.) Gotta do it," Schumer told People about her Kimye red carpet dive. "It was the best." |
Ricky: Did u guys see what's going on outside?
Shelly: A real blizzard!
Tom: Haven't seen such weather in yrs!
Ricky: This reminds me of a time when I was hiking in the mountains.
Shelly: U went hiking?
Tom: Yeah. What's so weird about it?
Ricky: U don't strike us as the type.
Tom: Well, I did. It was a couple yrs back, I admit. I was still a student and we went as a group of friends to the mountains.
Shelly: How many of u were there?
Tom: I think 5 or 6. Myself included.
Ricky: So what happened?
Tom: We rented a cabin in the wild. We wanted to have a weekend away. |
in indirect resonant inelastic x - ray scattering ( rixs ) an intermediate state is created with a core - hole that has an ultrashort lifetime .
the core - hole potential therefore acts as a femtosecond pulse on the valence electrons .
we show that this fact can be exploited to integrate out the intermediate states from the expressions for the scattering cross section . by this
we obtain an effective scattering cross section that only contains the initial and final scattering states .
we derive in detail the effective cross section which turns out to be a resonant scattering factor times a linear combination of the charge response function @xmath0 and the dynamic longitudinal spin density correlation function .
this result is asymptotically exact for both strong and weak local core - hole potentials and ultrashort lifetimes .
the resonant scattering pre - factor is shown to be weakly temperature dependent .
we also derive a sum - rule for the total scattering intensity and generalize the results to multi - band systems .
one of the remarkable outcomes is that one can change the relative charge and spin contribution to the inelastic spectral weight by varying the incident photon energy . |
(CNN)The Baltimore mother who slapped her son several times and pulled him out of a protest told CNN on Wednesday she wasn't concerned that she might be embarrassing her son. "Not at all," Toya Graham told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360Λ" in an interview that aired Wednesday night. "He was embarrassing himself by wearing that mask and that hoodie and doing what he was doing." The video of Graham yanking her son, Michael Singleton, and slapping him with a right hand as CNN affiliate WMAR recorded has led to the Internet calling Graham #motheroftheyear. Many people have praised the unemployed, single mother of six for going to the Mondawmin Mall and getting her son away from the escalating violence. Graham told Cooper that she saw her son with a brick in his hand, and she lost control of her emotions and told him to drop it. Wednesday night: Across United States, protests in support of Baltimore demonstrators . "I did (get emotional). You know, once he threw that rock down I said, 'You weren't brought up like this,' " Graham said. He's not a perfect child, but he's also not a thug, she said. The 16-year-old boy said he understood that his mother was there looking out for him. "She didn't want me to get in trouble (with the) law. She didn't want me to be like another Freddie Gray," he said, referring to the 25-year-old man who died of a severe spinal injury after being arrested by Baltimore police. Gray's death has sparked daily protests over police brutality. There have also been riots and looting that prompted the city to put a curfew into effect. Graham said her son told her the night before the violence at the mall that something was up. She told him then and the next morning not to go. He swore to her he wouldn't. Her motherly sense kicked in when she heard school had closed early and the mall was shutting down, too. She went to the mall and focused on the teens who were tossing rocks and bricks. There he was, in sweatpants she recognized. They made eye contact. He had a brick in his hand, and that set her off. Wednesday night: Marchers back in the streets of Baltimore . "I was so angry with him that he had made a decision to do some harm to the police officers," she said. She yelled at him to put the brick down. Singleton said he had seen her, but it didn't make sense that his mother would be there. But when he heard her voice, he realized it really was his mom -- and he was in big trouble. Then the camera captured her memorable smackdown. "It was just World War III from right there," he said, showing some humor about the incident. Graham noticed the TV crew but didn't think anything of it. And she didn't care. "I wasn't there to be recorded. I was there to get my child," she said. Tameka Brown, one of Graham's five daughters, told CNN on Tuesday it wasn't that hard for her mom to spot her 16-year-old half-brother. "She knows her son and picked him out. Even with the mask on, she knew," Brown said. Brown said her mother is always looking out for her children. "She has always been tough and knows where we are at," Brown said. Graham said she tries to steer her son away from potential trouble and troublemakers. "As long as I have breath in my body I will always try to do right by Michael and show him what's going on out in society doesn't have to be you," she told CNN. Her son said that once they got home from the mall he understood why she pulled him out of the crowd. "I was embarrassed a little bit, until she just started talking to me when we got home," he said. "(She was) just telling me she did it because she cared about me. And it wasn't to embarrass me, but because she cared." CNN's Elise Miller and AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report. Watch Anderson Cooper 360Β° weeknights 8pm ET. For the latest from AC360Β° click here. |
Amelia: What is your favourite colour?
Emily: Blue, why?
Amelia: I can't tell you
Emily: A surprise? =)
Amelia: Sort of... Can't tell you anything more
Amelia: Sorry
Emily: I'm super curious |
bp psc is a remarkable emission - line field star that is orbited by a dusty disk and drives a parsec - scale system of jets .
we report the detection by the _
chandra _ x - ray observatory of a weak x - ray point source coincident with the centroids of optical / ir and submillimeter continuum emission at bp psc . as the star s photosphere is obscured throughout the visible and near - infrared , the _ chandra _ x - ray source likely represents the first detection of bp psc itself .
the x - rays most likely originate with magnetic activity at bp psc and hence can be attributed either to a stellar corona or to star - disk interactions .
the log of the ratio of x - ray to bolometric luminosity , @xmath0 , lies in the range @xmath1 to @xmath2 .
this is smaller than @xmath0 ratios typical of low - mass , pre - main sequence stars , but is well within the @xmath0 range observed for rapidly - rotating ( fk com - type ) g giant stars .
hence , the _ chandra _ results favor an exotic model wherein the disk / jet system of bp psc is the result of its very recently engulfing a companion star or giant planet , as the primary star ascended the giant branch . |
(CNN)ISIS on Wednesday released more than 200 Yazidis, a minority group whose members were killed, captured and displaced when the Islamist terror organization overtook their towns in northern Iraq last summer, officials said. Most of those released were women and children; the rest were ill or elderly, said Rassol Omar, a commander in the Peshmerga force that defends northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Omar didn't say what led to the release, other than asserting that Arab tribal leaders helped to coordinate it. The freed Yazidis were received by Peshmerga, who sent them to the Kurdish regional capital, Irbil, said Nuri Osman, an official with Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government. It wasn't immediately clear what motivated Wednesday's release, Osman said. Osman said 217 Yazidis were released. Omar, the Peshmerga commander, had a higher count: 228. ISIS previously released scores of other Yazidis -- largely children and the elderly -- since attacking the group's towns last year. The Sunni Islamist militant group steamrolled into Iraq's north last summer, forcing hundreds of thousands of minorities -- Yazidis among them -- from their homes. Yazidis are of Kurdish descent, and their religion is considered a pre-Islamic sect that draws from Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. One of the oldest religious communities in the world, the Yazidis have long suffered persecution, with many Muslims referring to them as devil worshipers. ISIS' cruelty to them has been extraordinary. ISIS' conquest of the town of Sinjar, in particular, provoked a major humanitarian crisis as some Yazidis fled into the mountains -- where many became trapped for a time without food and water -- and others fled by foot into neighboring Syria. ISIS slaughtered Yazidis by the hundreds, Yian Dakhil, the only lawmaker representing the Yazidis in Iraq's Parliament, told CNN last year. Reports emerged from some Yazidi survivors that ISIS raped and enslaved female Yazidi captives. An international coalition responded, first by airdropping supplies in the mountains. Rescues came next. And then, starting in August, the United States and other nations conducted airstrikes targeting ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. State Department estimates that 500,000 Yazidis live in northern Iraq, accounting for less than 1% of the country's population. CNN's Raja Razek reported from Beirut. CNN's Jason Hanna wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Hamdi Alkshali, Faith Karimi and Yousuf Basil contributed to this report. |
Claire: hey
Claire: where's this conference about relations at school?
Aaron: hey
Aaron: it's in the teaching training thing
Claire: oh, in Sesame Street?
Aaron: yeah exactly
Claire: thanks!
Claire: are you going? i mean apart from your own lecture ;D
Aaron: haha yeah i'm giving two, actually
Aaron: and i'm kind of a host there as well
Aaron: so guess i'll be looking to coffee, biscuits etc
Claire: i see
Aaron: i was thinking i could go to Jo's lecture
Claire: Jo's... is it the one about stress?
Aaron: no, that's Joe ;D Jo is having a workshop on teamwork
Claire: ah, this one. yeah looks interesting
Aaron: i know her, she's a really good coach
Claire: i was thinking maybe mindfullness...
Aaron: yeah definitely!! if you haven't been to any mindfullness workshops then it's a must!
Aaron: i've taken it in Berlin last year, with the same guy
Aaron: it was amazing, life-changing i'd say
Claire: sounds wonderful
Claire: one can easily tell you're one of the organisers ;D
Aaron: hahah yeah but we did choose the best topics and presenters, believe me :D
Aaron: we've checked out all those people and learnt from them and yeah, they're the best ;)
Claire: ok ok i'm signing up :D see you there, during the breaks at least;)
Aaron: ok bye bye;) |
the forest has emerged as one of the few systems capable of probing small - scale structure at high-@xmath0 with high precision . in this
talk i highlight two areas in which the forest is shedding light on fundamental questions in cosmology , one speculative and one which should be possible in the near future . |
(CNN)Once Hillary Clinton's official announcement went online, social media responded in a big way, with terms like "Hillary Clinton," "#Hillary2016," and yes, even "#WhyImNotVotingforHillary" trending. Certainly, you couldn't go far on Twitter (even before Clinton tweeted her announcement), without an opinion or thought on her new campaign (there were over 3 million views of her announcment tweets in one hour, and 750,000 Facebook video views so far by Sunday evening). Some tweeted their immediate support, with one word: . |
Rachel: <file_other>
Rachel: Top 50 Best Films of 2018
Rachel: :)
Janice: Omg, I've watched almost all 50... xDD
Spencer: Hahah, Deadpool 2 also??
Janice: Yep
Spencer: Really??
Janice: My bf forced me to watch it xD
Rachel: Hahah
Janice: It wasn't that bad
Janice: I thought it'd be worse
Rachel: And Avengers? :D
Janice: 2 times
Rachel: Omg
Janice: xP
Rachel: You are the best gf in the world
Rachel: Your bf should appreciate that ;-)
Janice: He does
Janice: x) |
we introduce a growing network model in which a new node attaches to a randomly - selected node , as well as to all ancestors of the target node .
this mechanism produces a sparse , ultra - small network where the average node degree grows logarithmically with network size while the network diameter equals 2 .
we determine basic geometrical network properties , such as the size dependence of the number of links and the in- and out - degree distributions .
we also compare our predictions with real networks where the node degree also grows slowly with time the internet and the citation network of all physical review papers . |
(CNN)If I had to describe the U.S.-Iranian relationship in one word it would be "overmatched." We're playing checkers on the Middle East game board and Tehran's playing three-dimensional chess. Iran has no problem reconciling its bad and contradictory behavior while we twist ourselves into knots over our tough choices, all the while convincing ourselves that America's policy on the nuclear issue is on the right track. Iran isn't 10 feet tall in this region, but by making the nuclear issue the be-all and end-all that is supposed to reduce Iran's power, the United States is only making Tehran taller. Consider the following: . The U.S.-Iranian relationship is not symmetrical. It's not as if we both are doing terrible things and are looking for a fair and equitable compromise to stop our respective bad behaviors. Iran is about to try a U.S. citizen and Washington Post reporter and we have made a judgment that even while we protest, we will keep the nuclear issue separated not just from this case but from Iran's serial abuse of human rights, including the behavior of its Shia militias in Iraq. I can only hope there is a carefully orchestrated behind-the-scenes plan to have Iran release Jason Rezaian. If not, we're legitimizing a bad regime and compromising U.S. values and interests in the process by not ensuring that all Americans being held by Iran come out as part of the nuclear deal. America is alienating some of our closest allies because of the Iran deal, and Iran is picking up new ones and bolstering relations with old ones who are growing more dependent because they see Iran's power rising. Our friends aren't perfect, particularly the Saudis and even the Israelis. But we need them precisely because Iran is rising. Sadly, the administration is sending signals that cutting a deal on the nuclear issue takes precedence over their priorities. In the meantime, Iran's allies, Bashar al-Assad's Syria, Hezbollah and now the Houthis -- not proxies, but instruments of convenience -- see what's happening and are willing to play and cooperate even more in the Iranian game. The Russians, too, realize that the nuclear issue gives them cover to sell sophisticated missile defense systems and soon to export even more to gain influence and hard currency. We're losing friends; Iran is gaining them. And in one of the cruelest ironies, Iran's way back into the global economy is as a result of the very issue that made it such a pariah: the nuclear issue. As the Arab world melts down and lacks a traditional epicenter of strength and power, (Egypt, Iraq, Syria), Iran is rising. The argument here is not that Iran is taking over the Middle East. But in its zone of influence, a zone critical to the United States -- Syria, Iraq, the Gulf, Yemen, Lebanon -- it is expanding its influence, not contracting. Washington doesn't play this kind of game well. It is tripping all over itself trying to figure out how to combat ISIS in Syria and yet not empower al-Assad (no answer), how to combat ISIS in Iraq without favoring the Shia-dominated government and alienating Iraqi Sunnis (no answer)and how to backstop the Saudis in Yemen without enabling them to make matters worse through their airstrikes (no answer). Iran has a much easier time managing contradictions. Indeed, it can use the threat of ISIS to keep the Americans away from weakening their ally al-Assad as well as expand its influence in Iraq under the guise of fighting a battle of mutual interest. Battle group naval assets to the Gulf of Aden notwithstanding, the United States is being outfoxed, not outgunned. Don't expect U.S. ships to stop those of Iran. As State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said, "There are reports about these U.S. ships that have been moved and I want to be very clear just so that no one has the wrong impression. They are not there to intercept Iranian ships. The purpose of moving them is only to ensure that the shipping lanes remain open and safe. I think there was some misreporting and confusion on this. I just want to be very clear that the purpose is not to do anything in terms of those Iranian ships." It clearly makes sense to try to use diplomacy as a way to constrain Iran's nuclear program. But we should have no illusions about two things. First, we won't end Teheran's nuclear weapons pretensions, and two, we are and will be enabling its rise in the region because of this nuclear diplomacy, not constraining it. One of the reasons the United States won't strike al-Assad is for fear of emboldening ISIS, but the other is that we don't want a proxy war with Iran in Syria. As the Russians have made clear in their recent S-300 deal, the nuclear negotiations are only making Iran a more acceptable business partner. And the real fruits of the diplomacy haven't even begun yet. Sanctions relief will make the mullahs more secure and give them the resources to buck up, not tamp down, their regional aspirations. We've made our bed, apparently, and now are going to have to find a way to sleep. A nuclear deal will avert a crisis over the nuclear issue for now. But unless it really does change Iran's behavior, we've only bought ourselves a bigger one down the road. |
Matthew: I have a cold. Need y'all support. It's painful
Lisa: Fight it. Drink orange juice. Make some soup
Matthew: I'll try
Lisa: I believe in u
Matthew: Thank u. Apparently it's an allergy mixed up with virus
Lisa: Ahh it sucks.
Lisa: Take a rest from evrthg.
Matthew: Ikr. Hitting the hay now
Lisa: Good night 'Thew! |
binary central stars have long been invoked to explain the vexing shapes of planetary nebulae ( pne ) despite there being scant direct evidence to support this hypothesis .
modern large - scale surveys and improved observing strategies have allowed us to significantly boost the number of known close binary central stars and estimate at least 20% of pne have close binary nuclei that passed through a common - envelope ( ce ) phase . the larger sample of post - ce nebulae appears to have a high proportion of bipolar nebulae , low - ionisation structures ( especially in sn1987a - like rings ) and polar outflows or jets .
these trends are guiding our target selection in ongoing multi - epoch spectroscopic and photometric surveys for new binaries .
multiple new discoveries are being uncovered that further strengthen the connection between post - ce trends and close binaries .
these ongoing surveys also have wider implications for understanding ce evolution , low - ionisation structure and jet formation , spectral classification of central stars , asymptotic giant branch ( agb ) nucleosynthesis and dust obscuration events in pne . |
New York (CNN)New York's iconic Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island will reopen to the public Saturday -- one day after a bomb threat that led to its evacuation was declared unfounded, officials said. The NYPD bomb squad on Friday examined a locker thought to contain a suspicious package and found it was empty, a law enforcement official said. Police declared the scene clear at 3:15 p.m. Other lockers checked as a precautionary measure, the law enforcement source said. Images posted on social media showed crowds of visitors walking on ramps to awaiting ferries. All civilians were evacuated and only emergency personnel remained on Liberty Island, according to police. The fire department had EMS units there as a precaution. Mike Burke, the head of Statue Cruises, which operates the ferry to the island, said: "Our first priority is the safety and well being of all of our visitors." Burke said about 2,700 people were safely transported from the island and offered full refunds. Service to Liberty Island is to resume at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Shortly after 11 a.m., the National Park Service was informed that a 911 caller made a threat to blow up the Statue of Liberty -- which led to the evacuation, according to park service spokeswoman Mindi Rambo. A sweep by U.S. Park Police canine units "alerted on an area of interest near the lockers at the base" of the Statue of Liberty, Rambo said. Park police had notified the NYPD, which dispatched its bomb squad, officials said. It is not uncommon to get false positives from the bomb-sniffing dogs. "Following their investigation, it was determined that there was not an explosive device," Rambo said. Approximately 3.5 million people visit the Statue of Liberty every year. Visitors must pass through security screening similar to airport security procedures, according to the National Park Service. Previously, the statue closed in November 2012 because of significant damage sustained from Superstorm Sandy. It reopened on July 4, 2013, with a ribbon cutting ceremony and long lines of tourists. The last time the island shut down to the public was in October 2013, when it closed for 12 days because of the a government shutdown. The statue was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland on October 28, 1886. It was a gift to the United States from the people of France to commemorate 100 years of Franco-American friendship as well as the centennial of America's independence. |
Joanne: hi, wanna talk?
Bradley: hi, sorry, not right now, im busy
Bradley: crazy day at work
Joanne: sure, contact me, i gotta tell you something
Bradley: i will, ttyl |
the motion of a collisionless plasma - a high - temperature , low - density , ionized gas - is described by the vlasov - maxwell ( vm ) system .
these equations are considered in one space dimension and two momentum dimensions without the assumption of relativistic velocity corrections .
the main results are bounds on the spatial and velocity supports of the particle distribution function and uniform estimates on derivatives of this function away from the critical velocity @xmath0 . additionally , for initial particle distributions that are even in the second velocity argument @xmath1 , the global - in - time existence of solutions is shown .
robert glassey stephen pankavich jack schaeffer |
(CNN)The world's seventh-largest economy is heading toward collapse. An economic powerhouse conservatively valued at $24 trillion, one that annually churns out the equivalent of $2.5 trillion, is under assault. However, I am not referring to one of the G8 economies, but to the "super economy" of the ocean. It's one that for far too long has been ignored and taken for granted -- and it is going downhill fast. The health and wealth of the ocean are assessed in a WWF report released Thursday, Reviving the Ocean Economy. The report is the result of a hard economic analysis performed by The Boston Consulting Group built on a foundation of the latest ocean science provided by the Global Change Institute of the University of Queensland. True, the enormity of the ocean can complicate any single appraisal. But it is still important to try to understand its value if global leaders are ever going to sustain it for future generations. The fact is that the ocean feeds us, employs us, offers protection and plays a direct role in the lives and livelihoods of people throughout the world. The ocean also provides intangible but essential services to humanity, such as climate regulation and oxygen production, that are difficult to put in monetary terms. And while we all may look at the ocean from different perspectives, no one can escape the fact that it is a shared resource that provides for each and every one of us. A figure that may get lost in the headlines generated by our report is perhaps most telling: Seventy percent of the ocean's overall economic value relies on its continued health. Ocean assets like fisheries, coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses that produce goods and services rivaling the world's top 10 economies will lose their value if we continue to over-exploit and outright destroy them. That may seem like a far-off possibility to some, but it is a future foretold by the many details in this report. For example, 90 percent of the world's fish stocks are either fully exploited or over-exploited. And that is not all. By 2050 -- only a few decades from now -- it is possible that the ocean could lose its coral reefs, which have already been halved in the last few decades. This isn't just a concern for dive enthusiasts, but to the hundreds of millions of people that rely on ocean resources for their daily meals and their weekly paychecks. The ocean is truly too big to fail. The loss of the ocean's critical habitats and species would have a devastating ripple effect on global food security and economies that no government bailout could salvage. Fortunately, our report identifies actions that would revive the ocean economy, three of which are critical this year. First, the international community must rally around a set of sustainable development goals that clearly reflect the link between the environment -- including the ocean -- and human well-being. Also, negotiators meeting in Paris later this year must agree on an ambitious global climate deal that sets us on the path to avert the worst impacts of climate change. And finally, leaders must commit to conserving increasing amounts of coastal and marine areas over the course of the next 15 years. The economic case for why the ocean is so critical to livelihoods around the world is clear, and we will not be able to plead ignorance if we collectively preside over the collapse of the ocean economy. Reviving the Ocean Economy is dedicated to helping us avoid that outcome, but it will require political vision and courage among policymakers. All this said, and as terrifying as it is that the deterioration of the ocean's health has been its fastest in millions of years, there is actually some (potential) good news: If we act swiftly and with determination, marine resources can recover -- and recover quickly. Many local examples -- from the Mediterranean to the Mozambique Channel, from the Fiji archipelago to the Arctic -- show us that conservation, restoration and sustainable-use approaches mean the ocean, and the people who depend on it, can both prosper. Ultimately, the ocean bridges continents, connects cultures and offers equal opportunity inspiration and we should therefore work together in support of this vital shared resource. But if we are to have any chance of avoiding the point of no return, we must find ways of reaching genuine global commitments on sustainable development and climate. After all, it's far better to avoid an economic collapse than be forced to scramble to pick up the pieces. |
Edward: I dont wanna go on that business trip tomorrow
Lauren: I am stressed af
Kate: I don't think its gonna be that bad
Lauren: The boss is coming with us
Kate: Yea well
Kate: I am ok with him
Edward: You think its gonna be just a few meetings with clients πΆ
Kate: Not only
Kate: We're going to an expo
Kate: I hate the expo stuff
Kate: We have to pretend to be nice
Kate: But people coming to our booth actually have nothing to do with what we're doing
Lauren: True
Edward: Expos are not as stressful as meetings tho
Kate: Ye well
Kate: We cant complain rn
Lauren: we have to go anyway
Lauren: πππ
Kate: See y'all there then |
classical configurations in the @xmath0 model on @xmath1 is studied with twisted boundary conditions . starting from fractional instantons with the @xmath2 twisted boundary conditions , we review briefly the relevance of our study to resurgence phenomenon in field theory .
we consider primarily configurations composed of multiple fractional instantons , called neutral bions " , which are identified as perturbative infrared renormalons " .
we construct an explicit ansatz corresponding to topologically trivial configurations containing one fractional instanton ( @xmath3 ) and one fractional anti - instanton ( @xmath4 ) , which is guaranteed to become a solution of field equations asymptotically for large separations .
the attractive interactions between the instanton constituents from small to large separations are found to be consistent with the standard separated - instanton calculus .
our results suggest that the ansatz enables us to study bions and the related physics for a wide range of separations .
this talk is mainly based on our recent work published in jhep * 1406 * , 164 ( 2014 ) [ arxiv:1404.7225 [ hep - th ] ] . |
(CNN)A couple in their 20s, who led a youth ministry, and their baby boy were driving underneath a highway overpass in Bonney Lake, a Seattle suburb, when other motorists heard the crackle of a pending collapse. Concrete from a construction project crashed onto the family's car, killing Josh and Vanessa Ellis and their 8-month-old son, Hudson, authorities said. "The damage was so severe it was impossible to tell how many victims were in the vehicle. The only thing we had was we could tell there was one victim," said Officer Todd Green of Bonney Lake Police Department, according to CNN affiliate KOMO. It took nine hours Monday for crews to remove enough debris to discover the death toll on Angeline Road underneath State Route 410, authorities said. Authorities continued their investigation Tuesday, but initial findings were that there was an ongoing construction project on the highway and a side jersey barrier "came loose and fell onto the roadway," Green told the station. "When it fell off the overpass, it landed square on the roof of the vehicle," Green added. Josh and Vanessa Ellis were youth pastors at the EastPointe Foursquare Church in Puyallup, near Bonney Lake, the church said. The couple earlier wrote a short autobiography on the church website: "We love to laugh. We are passionate about seeing young people discover the love and grace that Jesus abundantly pours out on them. "We get really excited about good coffee, quality time with friends and Seattle welcoming an NBA basketball team back to our city," the couple wrote. "We love drive-in movies, frozen yogurt, dates to IKEA and trips to the beach." Lead Pastor James Ludlow said his church was reeling. "We are stunned! Shocked! Wounded, broken and dismayed. But we know one thing for sure ... they are in glory in the loving arms of our King Jesus!" Ludlow said on the church's Facebook page. Motorist Dawn Nelson was driving behind the Ellis' vehicle. "I was just a second or two behind him," Nelson told KOMO. "I could hear the three crunch sounds and then it just came down." Neighbors recounted a violent collapse. "I thought a semi had come down the guardrail here in front," neighbor Katie Vance told the station. She felt the crash inside her home. "It was a metal sound and a very heavy sound ... it was through your feet - like a guttural. It shook the whole house," she told the affiliate. CNN's Amanda Watts contributed to this story. |
Jesse: I have an idea that'll cheer u up!
Melvin: What is it?
Jesse: I was thinking about doing something 4 the less fortunate this year.
Lee: Gr8 idea! Anything in mind?
Maxine: So no presents 4 me? :(
Jesse: U'll get ur presents, no worries ;)
Maxine: Phew! Was getting a bit worried for a moment ;)
Melvin: Bt what do u have in store?
Jesse: Well, have u heard about the Refuge?
Lee: No. What's that?
Melvin: That's the Christmas foundation to help women and children?
Maxine: I think I've heard of them. So what about them?
Jesse: That's right! They help women and children who escape from abuse. And every year they post wish lists of such ppl online and I thought that we could choose one and chip in.
Melvin: That's a great idea!
Lee: Count me in!
Maxine: Me too.
Jesse: Have a look at these 3 lists: <file_other> <file_other> <file_other>
Lee: I think the second one would be the easiest to arrange.
Maxine: Agree.
Melvin: What about number 3? A bit ambitious, but if we pull together, we'll manage.
Jesse: Actually, I'm in for the 3rd one.
Maxine: I think the 2nd list would be better. The items cos more or less the same and we can easily divide it.
Melvin: But if we agree to chip in the same amount of money, we can deal with the 3rd one easily.
Lee: Come to think of it, the 3rd one is not that bad. A bit of planning and logistics and were good to go.
Jesse: So it's settled?
Melvin: Yup.
Lee: Sure.
Maxine: Fine. |
the distribution of the sunspot group size ( area ) and its dependence on the level of solar activity is studied .
it is shown that the fraction of small groups is not constant but decreases with the level of solar activity so that high solar activity is largely defined by big groups .
we study the possible influence of solar activity on the ability of a realistic observer to see and report the daily number of sunspot groups .
it is shown that the relation between the number of sunspot groups as seen by different observers with different observational acuity thresholds is strongly non - linear and can not be approximated by the traditionally used linear scaling ( @xmath0factors ) . the observational acuity threshold [ @xmath1 is considered to quantify the quality of each observer , instead of the traditional relative @xmath0factor .
a nonlinear @xmath2factor based on @xmath3 is proposed , which can be used to correct each observer to the reference conditions .
the method is tested on a pair of principal solar observers , wolf and wolfer , and it is shown that the traditional linear correction , with the constant @xmath0factor of 1.66 to scale wolf to wolfer , leads to an overestimate of solar activity around solar maxima . |
(CNN)As art, film stills are often overlooked. The photographers tend to be anonymous; it's easy to imagine their work done by the director or cinematographer. Their images are often lumped in with the promotional machinery: Whether documenting the stars frolicking on set or getting down to business, it's just another form of salesmanship. Which is why the work of Ernst Haas is so striking. Haas, one of the 20th century's great photojournalists and image-makers -- an early member of the great Magnum Photos cooperative who was famous enough in his prime to have been the subject of a Museum of Modern Art exhibit in 1962 -- was also a regular on movie sets. It was a necessity in those early days, said John Jacob, the editor of a new book of Haas' movie photography, "Ernst Haas: On Set." "Working on film sets was really important to Magnum, and all of the photographers working with Magnum in the '50s did films," says Jacob, now the McEvoy Family Curator for Photography at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Not only did the work pay off financially, but the photographers also established relationships with members of the industry, he said. And the stars and directors knew what they were getting: some of the best in the field. Photographers such as Haas were entrusted to bring their talent and style to the work. The photographers "are definitely producing work for posterity, that very much has their own fingerprint on it," Jacob said. Such distinction is obvious from looking at Haas' work -- some of which is as famous as the movies he worked on. There's a striking picture of Orson Welles in 1949's "The Third Man," hemmed in by the darkness in a way that suggests the shadowy themes of the classic film. Another, of Gregory Peck and Chuck Connors in 1958's "The Big Country," is as dramatic as any full-scale movie duel. (Westerns were a specialty.) But Haas also has a way of documenting the artificiality of film work, whether it's capturing the sprawling, workaday set of 1965's "The Greatest Story Ever Told" or snapping a relaxed picture of Barbara Streisand as Dolly Levi in 1969's "Hello, Dolly!" Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. The former is particularly interesting: an image of actors splayed on crosses for the crucifixion scene, surrounded by ladders, a camera crane, a painted scrim and several casually dressed crew members. Jacob observes that in each of Haas' images there's an eye for the unusual. The black-and-white work from "The Greatest Story Ever Told," for example, is almost prayerful, while the color images call attention to the artificiality of film. And some of Haas' other color images, especially his work for 1961's "West Side Story," fit in neatly with others in his catalog, as Haas was known for an impressionistic blur of hues that Jacob calls "the Haas effect." Haas died in 1986, and despite being celebrated during his life, his name is somewhat forgotten these days. Jacob hopes that "Ernst Haas: On Set" reminds people just what a master he was. "A lot of these are familiar images, but you don't necessarily associate them with Haas," he said. "On the other hand, people who know Haas well don't actually know this work, because it was work for hire and wasn't ever put together in this way before." Ernst Haas was an Austrian photographer who passed away in 1986. He was a member of Magnum Photos. |
Emma: Hi neighbour :)
Emma: Do you want to take a stroll with the little ones?
Abigail: Hey Emma :) I don't think that's a good idea.
Abigail: My smog alert app is showing that the norms have been exceeded by 30% today :O
Emma: Oh my, that sounds serious.
Emma: I need to install that app. |